


Nursing the demons you left me with

by MoonyInBlack



Series: Hitman Au [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Police, Angst, Attempted Murder, Blood, Drug Dealing, Drugs, Gen, Gun Violence, Hitmen AU, I'm not good in tagging, Implied/Referenced Torture, Just take it seriously, Major Character Injury, Mentions of drugs, Minor Character Death, Murder, No Smut, Past Character Death, Possible Character Death, Serial Killers, So much angst, Threats of Violence, Violence, description of murder, implied/referenced eating disorder, police officer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2019-04-30
Packaged: 2019-09-12 09:53:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 16
Words: 31,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16870795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MoonyInBlack/pseuds/MoonyInBlack
Summary: Tsukishima Kei was a police officer at the young age of 24. He worked together with his partners Bokuto Koutarou and Akaashi Keiji to find the man behind the so-called "King Killings".The 8th Victim was found and threw new light onto the situation, however Kei seemed get nervous with the new 	developments and information in this case.He worked hard to get through personal troubles with his colleagues, the pressure of his job and other obstacles that are blocking his way to find the person responsible for the death of his very soul.[Former titel: What I'd do for you]





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Not my first Fanfiction about those wonderful idiots, but the first one I will publish.  
> Most of the chapters are already outlined and some are prewritten, however they aren't proof read, so please be gentle with me.  
> Anyway, reviews, questions or whatever are always welcome!  
> This is the Prologue, which is why it's a lot shorter than what I want the chapters to be.  
> Let me know if you like it or not.

 

A drop of red tainted the pure colourless water in the sink. Tired eyes looked into the mirror above the water filled sink, as another drop of red joined the first one. It looked mesmerizing, the way the blood slowly mixed into the water, corrupting its purity.

Before a third drop could fall, he reached into the water and splashed it into his face, blood and dirt coming off. Not just his own blood - mind you.

His mission went well and the money had already been transferred onto his account. There was no reason for him to worry about the next three months of rent or even food.

It meant he wouldn’t have to worry about a new mission for a while, which was nice, to say the least. He wasn’t overly fond of missions like that to begin with. He had his own personal business to attend to.

 

Stepping out of the bathroom with a dried and cleaner face, he went straight into his bedroom. He stopped in front of the wall across of his neatly made bed.His desk was placed against said wall, but looked far from organised. Papers and photos were splattered across the wooden surface, not even showing a glimpse of the expensive wood laying underneath.

 

His eyes wandered over the stacs over paper - he’d have to return those his boss on Monday- and up to the wall. It looked just as messy as his desk, photos and newspaper articles hanging on the white wall, connected with different coloured strings. It looked straight out of a psychological horror movie, seemingly making no sense, but he understood his chaos. He needed his chaos to stay sane, he needed it to keep going or else he might have given up already.

 

_“I know why you’re here.”_

 

He reached to his neck, rubbing circles onto his shoulder in order to try and relax the tensed up muscles. It had been a long day… Maybe he should be taking a bath? Too much effort.

He just sighed in defeat and decided to call it a night, getting out of his dirty, bloody clothes. He had to throw these away. Jobs like that have always been dirty… He couldn’t say he particularly liked it.

 

There was no use for him to mourn about his clothes though, he accepted those jobs knowing they’d be messy and risky, but everything would do as long as they’d help him get closer to finding what he was looking for months.

 

_“If you kill me, you’ll never know the truth.”_

 

He ran his hand tiredly through his hair. He slipped on an old shirt and crawled into his bed.

He turned from one side to the other, his bruised hip impossible to lie on.

His eyes closed after only a few seconds and he drifted off into restless sleep haunted with nightmares he was already too used to seeing whenever he closed his eyes. They were part of him by now and it would certainly be a unnerving experience to fall asleep and not see those faces, to not hear the screams, to not feel his entire world slipping away from him everyday, again and again.

  
_“I don’t you need you to find them.”_  


Yeah, he was already more than used to those taunting pictures that were making sure he wouldn’t get one night of proper rest.


	2. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So since I understand that the Prologue alone is not much content and can be seen as confusing, I decided to upload the first chapter straight away. I'll try to update regularly on Wednesdays.  
> Anyway, here's the first chapter, I hope you like it

If there was anything worse to wake up to than to an alarm clock, it would be the sound of “hit me baby one more time” blasting through Kei’s phone. The sleepy man looked at the clock on his nightstand and gave out a loud groan. He started work at 9am, why would anyone call him before 8? It was the ringtone for his collegue. He chose it to piss him off and also because Akaashi usually never called.  
That fact alone infuriated Kei to no end as he answered the call with a groggy “yeah..?”

“Tsukishima, we are expecting you in the office immediately. There had been another murder and Daichi wants us to investigate. He thinks it was another one. The killer left the same mark.”

Kei sighed deeply and turned around on to his other side. “Can’t that wait until my shift starts? I have way too many over hours to begin with.”

On the other end of the line was rustling noises and the loud voice of his other partner demanding to speak to Kei.  
Akaashi gave a small sigh and Kei was met with the obnoxiously loud voice of Bokuto. 

“Tsukki! Justice has no office times, now come on or we’ll come and drag you to work!”

Kei sat up in his bed, painfully aware that Bokuto wasn’t just empty threats. That man was all muscles and little brain, so there wasn’t much room for threats he can’t carry out. 

“Fine.. I’ll get ready.”

“Thank you. We’ll see you in the office.” 

The blond preferred Akaashi’s voice by far, especially after waking up. Though he’d have liked if neither of them had called in the first place. Kei valued his sleep a lot. He didn’t always get enough, his job was very demanding. 

Tsukishima Kei was a police officer at the young age of 24. He had finished his training two years ago. Instead of College like most of his classmates, he started his police training straight after highschool. He had always wanted to work on important cases like serial killings or mafia rings. There were surprisingly many in Tokyo, but his department had good officers working those cases. Not that Kei would ever tell his colleagues and possibly boost their already giant egos. 

The tall blond man managed to maneuver himself out of bed after only 5 more minutes, not bothering with making his bed, he’d throw himself back in there as soon as he got home anyway. Then he grabbed the phone from the nightstand, before visiting the bathroom for a quick shower. He was still sweaty from the day before. Showering was hard sometimes, but he couldn’t risk getting scolded by Chief Sawamura for unprofessional behavior. He had a few too many warning in his files already. 

Kei kept the shower short, leaving the towel on the sink, no one there to put it back on its original place. He changed into a black button up shirt and black jeans. He placed his glasses on his nose with a small sigh.  
He grabbed his gun from its place on his desk, securying it on the holster he had on his matching black belt. He looked into the mirror and shook his head at himself. He looked like always, there was no need for him to check one more time. 

Kei stopped on the way to the front door by the kitchen, looking at the almost empty bowl of fruit. The last edible bit inside was a almost completely brown banana. It was a tempting offer - not really - but he decided to forgo breakfast in order to get to work earlier. Not because he was still skipping as many meals as he body and his job would allow him to. No, that was absolutely not it. If Akaashi knew, he’d bring the younger male bentos for lunch every day, even though he had barely time to make himself food in the mornings. 

That thought alone made Kei turn around in the middle of the stairs and jog back into his apartment, to grab the banana. It was very squishy, but he wouldn’t go back to being picky now. His mother hated cooking for him when he was younger, because of that, and he didn’t really want to fall back into being a burden, just because he liked his food a certain way. Especially since he couldn’t cook at all, so he had to eat whatever he could find in his kitchen and throw it together.

He made a mental note to go and get some groceries as soon as he got some time at his hands as he started eating the squishy half brown banana with the hand that wasn’t firmly placed on his steering wheel. It wasn’t the ideal driving situation and way too early for Kei’s taste, but at least he could blast his music through the speakers without anyone complaining about his song choice.

He parked his car in his usual parking lot, right next to the little bakery across his office. He thought about it for a second, getting himself a coffee wouldn’t hurt anyone now, would it? 

Kei decided that no, it certainly wouldn’t hurt anyone, since that guy in the new case was already dead, especially if he got his two partner something as well. 

He entered the bakery and the warm smell of freshly baked bread and cake folded itself around him. A small absent smile danced over his lips as he made his way over to the counter. 

A white haired man came into his vision, with a friendly grin. But one of those that actually reached his eyes as well. Kei wasn’t sure if that was infuriating or faszinating.

“Officer,” the man greeted Kei and the blond nodded at him in response. He has never been the social guy, which was why he worked as a officer to solve murder and not as a street policeman. Kei shifted on his feet, evening out his weight on both legs.

“I’d like three black coffees and one of the strawberry shortcakes please,” mumbled Kei. He could only hope the shorter man understood him, because he disliked repeating himself. #

Kei was lucky, the man seemed to have heard him, since he didn’t ask again, instead nodded and started to prepare the order.  
The feeling of luck disappeared immediately when he saw the time on the clock over the counter. It wasn’t even 8 yet. He would still be sleeping on every other Monday..

However Kei didn’t have time to pity himself, as the baker put his order in front of him with a bright smile, it made Kei shift on his feet. “Here you go! Three black coffees and the shortcake like ordered.”

Kei nodded and mumbled a small “thanks”, handing him some money. Probably a little too much, but he didn’t really care.  
He opened the door to leave when the baker came running to him. “Wait! You’re going to the office right now, right? Could you maybe give this to your chief? He forgot to get his order this morning. Just tell him Suga gave it to you.” 

Kei looked skeptically at the package the baker - Suga - offered him. He took it in his free hand. “I will. Have a nice day,” the taller man told him, trying to sound as friendly as he possibly could that early in the morning. 

It was apparently enough for Suga and he held the door open for Kei. “You too! See you.” 

Kei made his way across the street and into the tall building. In the elevator his curiosity got the best of him and he peeked into the package that he had to give his chief. Inside were some cupcakes, with red and pink decorations, that looked suspiciously close to one of the most important human organs. Why would the Chief order a bunch of heart cupcakes? For his wife? Kei wasn’t sure, but the more he thought about it, the less he wanted to actually know what his boss did with heart-shaped sweets. 

If there was something commonly known amongst all the police officers in his department, it was that Chief Police Officer Sawamura Daichi wasn’t someone you wanted to mess with. He was scary to say the least and his presence alone was able to shut up even Kei’s most annoying co-workers. He was one of the youngest Chiefs at the age of 29 and he took his job very seriously. There was no time wasted on cases that he deemed unsolvable or of less importance than the new ones coming in. He was well respected for that, and Kei shared that opinion for the longest time.

The elevator arrived at the 7th level and he stepped out and walked straight towards his desk.  
It was occupied by two other males, one tall man with spiked up hair, coloured in silver with the roots very obviously showing. He leaned over the desk, hands resting next to each side of Kei’s keyboard. Bokuto Koutarou was loudly chatting with the man sitting on Kei’s chair. 

Akaashi Keiji was the shortest out of the three of them, but probably the prettiest. He had short wavy hair and blue eyes that complimented him perfectly. But those eyes were now eying him curious and analysing, something Kei wasn’t particularly fond of, as it always made him shiver and feel as if he was in an interrogation. 

“I got coffee as a peace offering.” Kei sat the steaming hot black liquid down on his desk, after grabbing one for himself. He opened the second drawer of his desk, taking out 5 packs of sugar he had in there and putting all of it into his coffee. He quickly changed the leg he was putting most of the pressure on.

“Thanks, Tsukki. Though I still don’t get why you would ruin a perfect drink with that amount of sugar.”

Kei ignored Bokuto easily and turned to Akaashi, who shared Bokuto’s opinion, but knew better than to say anything out loud. 

“So, another murder?”

Akaashi sighed, taking a sip of his own coffee. “Yeah, he left the same mark like last time, it’s definitely our guy.”

Kei grabbed the file Akaashi had open on his desk.  
40 years old Ukai Keishin was found dead in his office this morning. Ukai had been the boss of Karasuno, one of the leading firms in medical technology.  
A crown was drawn on the wall in the blood of the victim, it was the 8th murder that had left the same symbol each time. A four edged crown with circles above each edge. That symbol and the fact that the victims were always high ranked business men and women lead to the name: “King Killings”. 

“What was his dirty secret?” Kei asked, studying the report, shifting from one leg onto the other. What connected those seemingly random murders of superintendents was their shady little secret. The first ever victim used his company to cover up human trafficking deals he made with mafia’s in other countries.  
Their last victim was a child abuser. They all seemed to hide something big and the murderer knew exactly what, displaying it on the crime scene for everyone to see. 

“We’re still trying to figure out what connected him to the other murders. Chief Sawamura wants us to go there to investigate the crime scene first hand. We’re supposed to meet him there in half an hour.”

Kei nodded. “Then let’s go, don’t want to make the Chief wait for us.” 

“Kei.. I know you don’t like him, but this is important.” 

Akaashi using his first name always had a special effect on Kei. It caught him off guard, but he calmed down with his words. It didn’t stop him from scoffing though.

“I’m a professional. Me hating him won’t effect this job,” he promised and rolled his eyes. “Now get your asses moving and into my car, so we won’t give that asshole a reason to scold either of us.”

The two other officers agreed and grabbed their coats and coffees.  
Bokuto even remembered to bring the files and the new report they got, so he and Akaashi could go over them again in the car. It was part of their routine, just in case they missed something.


	3. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya! A new chapter like I promised.  
> I hope you will enjoy it. Thank you already for the likes and the comment! They make me happy and knowing that people read the stuff I write, makes me want to write more. So thank you, honestly <3
> 
> Here we go, questions, comments and stuff like that is very welcome!  
> (still not proof read by someone else, so please be gentle with me)

The crime scene was a mess. It looked very different from the other 7 murders before, but they were so alike at the same time.  
A puddle of dried blood was around the corpse, colouring the white carpet into a deep rusty red. The white wall was drawn on with the victim's blood, the crown symbol that connected all the murders. The desk was messy with pencils and files thrown all over it. Ukai must have fought the intruder. Sticking out of the mess was a file, neatly placed in the middle of the desk. It grabbed Kei’s attention straight away. He put on a rubber glove and opened the file.

 

“Drugs,” he whispered to himself.  
“Karasuno shipped drugs in and out of Japan from South America, Spain and Italy.”

Akaashi perked up. “Drugs? That’s a first.”  
Bokuto frowned and walked over to where Kei was standing, easily looking around him, not minding their body pressing together. Kei found it annoying. He took a step to the side, trying to balance his weight.

“Drugs? Nothing more? That seems like a small crime if we compare them to the other things, don’t you think?”

 Kei wanted to correct him, saying that dealing and smuggling drugs was a big deal, but he understood what the older man had meant by that. They had human trafficking, child abuse, rape and even torture. Drugs seemed kind of out of the picture for that.

Before he was able to connect the dots, another figure entered the crime scene.

 

“Tsukishima, Akaashi, Bokuto. I’m glad to see you made it in time.”  
  
Chief Sawamura stood proudly in his black suit and white shirt in the door frame.  
Kei had to will all his muscles in his body not to make a rude gesture at his boss and simply averted his eyes down onto the files in front of him again.

The Chief didn’t seem to notice, or if he did he simply didn’t care. He was already used to Kei’s behavior. Akaashi was not as ignorant about his partner though and sent him a disapproving look.

“Chief, why did you get all four of us here?” Bokuto asked, oblivious to the tension his loud voice was cutting through.

“I called you here to meet me because I wanted your thoughts on the crime scene. Something is different this time and I’m not talking about the drugs Ukai seemed to have shipped.”  
  
Kei clicked his tongue unimpressed. “You called us here to tell you that the victim was obviously fighting against his intruder?”

 Sawamura gave Kei a smile, but it wasn’t a happy one like the one on the baker from this morning. It was the same kind of smile Kei got when he was told that his case was being shut down and Kei made a scene. It was a smile on the verge of snapping, on the verge of another warning, or even the final dismissal.

 “There is no evidence of breaking in. Ukai let the intruder inside, he knew he was coming. And yet he still put up a fight, why?”

 “Because he didn’t want to die?” Bokuto asked, as if that was the obvious answer. And it seemed like it would be. Who would want to die?

“But he knew who he just let into his office. He was probably aware of the other killings, so when someone came to him after all of his workers went home already, he probably suspected something.”

  
Sawamura stepped through the room, with purpose, Kei noted. He stopped on the other side of the desk across from where Kei and Bokuto were standing. The way he looked like he knew something the other two didn’t made Kei shift on his feet nervously.

“He knew, so he would have left a note. A hint.” Sawamura looked at them with a glint in his eyes. Kei wondered if that guy ever thought about becoming a profiler instead of a boring Chief. It would also help Kei, because if he would change his job, Kei wouldn’t have to see him anymore, let alone work with that guy.

 

Bokuto started looking through the discarded files on the desk, Akaashi was looking through the ones on the floor.

Kei kept studying the drug routes they used. He had the weird feeling he knew those routes, he had seen them before somewhere, but he didn’t remember where.

 

Akaashi held a hand up in triumph. “Ha! I got something.”

 Kei took the piece of paper Akaashi was holding up from his hand and frowned at what he was reading. “Grand King?” He asked surprised. It was unmistakably what the note said. It also had the same symbol like on the wall drawn onto it.  
  
“Like the drug ring leader Iwaizumi is investigating?” Akaashi looked up at Kei from his seat on the floor.

Suddenly Kei knew why he knew some of the places in those files, he tried to keep his cool. “Yeah, he seemed to have used the same warehouse the Grand King is using. Did someone piss that guy off and he killed him?”

 Bokuto frowned. “But that would mean he was also the one behind the other 7 killings. Unless he imitated the King Killer.”

 “Or Ukai’s hint was useless and completely unrelated,” Kei hummed sceptically, hoping it didn’t sound too forced.

 “Maybe, but it’s the only lead we have. I’ll call Iwaizumi and look through those files together.” Akaashi got up from the floor. He reached into Bokuto’s coat pocket to fish out his phone.

 

Kei didn’t want to know why Bokuto seemed so unfazed by those casual touches or why Akaashi’s phone was in his pocket in the first place. Those two could be happy Chief Sawamura seemed busy with the forensic guy.  
  
Kei knew they were in a relationship, but if their boss knew, there would be consequences none of them wanted to deal with. They were an odd but good team, separating them would affect all three of them and their work.

Bokuto would probably lose his job over this as well. Kei pretended not to understand why they would take such a risk for a stupid feeling like love.

Akaashi left the room to call their colleague, who was wrapped up in one of the biggest drug ring investigations their office ever had.

Kei watched his partner go and turned to Bokuto. He had meant to say something about the murder, but Bokuto looked at the corpse already.

“He put up quite the fight. We might be able to find some DNA of the attacker somewhere on him,” the doctor in charge commented.

 “His fists look bruised, there’s a high possibility that the killer is injured in some way.”

 Kei nodded softly, placing a hand slightly above his right hip. He frowned down at the corpse, something was different, he had known already, but it didn’t feel appropriate to point it out straight away. “The usual way the murderer kills is three shots. One in the abdomen, one right above the heart and one into the head. Ukai seemed to have at least 5 shot wounds. You think the killer slipped up?”

 Bokuto followed Kei’s eyes over the different shot wounds.

“Maybe he had to change plans because his victim fought back this time?”

 “But he still hit the three usual spots. Why go through the troubles of making sure this is seen as another of the King Killings?” Kei asked, rubbing over his own hip gently.

 “I don’t know.. Maybe we know more after the autopsy,” the doctor in charge stood up, ordering his two apprentices to help him pack Ukai up and get him ready to transport him back into their office.

“I’ll call you as soon as I know more,” he called to Kei and Bokuto as he left with the body.

 

The other two stayed in the room, Kei turning to the neatly drawn crown on the wall. He dropped the hand off his hips, biting his lip. He shifted his weight again and Bokuto frowned.

 “Are you okay? You have been shifting a lot today.”

 Kei frowned at his partner. God he hated how observant the loud man was. He seemed like an airhead, but the slightest bit of change can throw him off and he saw stuff Kei thought he was hiding well enough. He should have known nothing was safe from Bokuto’s eyes. He was a simple minded person, but when it came to Police work, the man was a professional.

 “I’m okay. I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Kei muttered under his breath and made his way to the door, to look for Akaashi, but mostly to escape Bokuto’s piercing gaze.  
The later let him go, asking no more questions. Bokuto knew when to stop pushing Kei, out of experience. They all needed to cooperate and if Kei were to close up because of too many questions, it would slow down the investigations.

 

Akaashi ended the call when Kei approached. “I’ll meet Iwaizumi later today to talk about the possible connection between the Grand King and our killer.”

 Kei nodded absently and shifted again on his feet, but caught himself in the middle of it and shifted back.

 “Are you alright? You seem restless,” Akaashi asked, far less gentle than Bokuto had tried. Kei gritted his teeth.

“Can you guys please stop analysing me? I’m okay. You woke me two hours before my shift started, so yeah, I’m a little tired.” Kei rolled his eyes, as if that would underline his statement. “Can we now please go back? I have dinner with my best friend today and I can’t call it off again, because I’m sure he’d just come to my apartment anyway.”

 Akaashi gave a small smile. “You have a good friend, Tsukishima.”  
  
Kei didn’t comment further, making his way out of the tall office building towards his car.

His two partners were quick to join him, but stayed quiet, which Kei found even more distracting than their usual chattering.

 

Back in their office they wrote together all they have got. They even asked Nishinoya, Tanaka and Yamamoto for help with the drug case Ukai was involved with, much to Kei’s annoyance. Those three were probably the loudest colleagues he ever had the misfortune to work in the same office with. Those three were working the smaller drug cases, they were assigned the case of the Grand King until they discovered that an entire gang was behind that Grand King character and Iwaizumi took over the case.

Now those three were back to working their regular cases and if Kei didn’t know their success rate, he’d be wondering why they were still allowed to work together as a team. They were one big chaos, that somehow worked out.

 They used their entire afternoon to pierce together information and theorize about possible scenarios of last night’s murder.

At 6pm Kei decided he had enough. Akaashi packed his files to go and meet Iwaizumi.  
  
“I’ll call if I found anything groundbreaking. Enjoy your dinner.”

 

Kei nodded and took his bag, heading out of the building. Walking past the bakery to his car, he realized he forgot to bring the cupcakes to his chief. He contemplated going back and doing that job now, but out of the corner of his eyes, he could see Sawamura inside the bakery, talking with Suga, laughing about something the silver haired man said.

It felt strangely as if he was intruding in a private moment, so he he quickly got into his car and drove home, loud music blasting through the speakers. Not completely his taste, but he couldn’t bring himself to change the song.

 

At home he saw the lights in his apartment were turned on and his blood ran cold. “Shit..” He mumbled and jogged upstairs with fast steps. His long legs were of great advantage here right now.

He opened the door to his hallway and Yamaguchi stuck his head out of his kitchen. “Tsukki! You’re home.”

 

It might be of importance to say that Yamaguchi did in fact not live here and got the key for emergencies only.

“I cooked dinner. So you can’t skip out on me like last time.” There was no anger in his voice and the smile on his face was gentle.

Kei sat down on his chair, he felt stiff and uncomfortable as his best friend filled his plate with selfmade soup. Yamaguchi was a good cook and always good company, but he couldn’t help but feel the heavy air surrounding them. There was something Yamaguchi wanted to say and Kei had a faint idea what it could be.

However he still waited for his best friend to start talking, since Kei wasn’t quite ready to admit breaking the promise just yet.

 

Yamaguchi was chewing on his lip, barely touching his own soup as Kei slowly ate little by little of the hot food.  
  
“I saw that you got new information on your case..”

There it was. The undeniably tone of disappointment in Yamaguchi’s voice. Kei sighed softly, but didn’t say anything. Yamaguchi didn’t understand.

“I thought we had a deal, Tsukki. You promised to stop working on the case, if I stop offering you help.”  
  
“Yamaguchi-”  
  
“No,-” the smaller one got up quickly- “you promised me! You promised you would stop. It’s destroying you and you can’t even see that! Sawamura shut the case down, because there was no prove on who did it. You’ll just break down over it!” Yamaguchi was fully yelling at Kei now and the blonde flinched slightly at his tone.

“You don’t understand-”

“Of course I do! You loved Kuroo, but working your ass off to find his killer won’t bring him back to life either. And you know as much as I do that he wouldn’t want you to break so many fucking rules to keep looking for the responsible one instead of working to get better and over it!”  
  
Kei balled his hands into fists and he stood up as well, leaning over the table to glare angrily at his best friend, who was panting from all the yelling.  
  
“You think I don’t know any of that?! I have tried to let it go! But I can’t sleep peacefully at night before I caught that bastard that killed him! You think you understand my position but you don’t! He was the love of my life, he was the only fucking person who would take me the way I am. Tetsuro was all I ever wanted and more. And I will not give up before I know that his murderer is in prison or dead!”

 Yamaguchi bit his lip, sighing deeply. “Tsukki, where do you get those information from anyway? You lost the case months ago! You honestly need to stop. You’ll break..”  
  
“What if Hitoka was in his place? You wouldn’t stop. Why would I.”  
  
Kei looked down on his friend, blinking away the stinging feeling in his eyes. He wouldn’t cry now. He had cried too often in the last few months and he needed to build up his guard again. The guard Kuroo Tetsuro had gently taken down, one by one.

 “Thank you for the food,” Kei said quietly, with a shaking voice before he turned on his heels, walking out of the kitchen.

 

He wasn’t being fair to his best friend and he knew. But neither was Yamaguchi. He was married to the person he loved the most, he should understand how Kei was feeling with his special person gone from the earth forever.

Kei entered his bedroom and picked up the picture he had put face down on his nightstand. It was him and Kuroo after Kuroo had asked Kei if he wanted to marry him. Kei’s eyes were still slightly red from the tears of happiness he had let slip that night, but Tetsuro had insisted on taking that picture. He was pressing a kiss to Kei’s cheek, Kei holding Kuroo’s face with his hands, flashing the silver ring to the camera.

  
Kei reached into the nightstand’s drawer and picked up a small red velvet box. He opened it and took the ring, which was attached to a necklace, out of the box. Kuroo had been thoughtful enough to think about a necklace, Kei preferred to wear subtle jewellery on his job, so he put the necklace back around his neck, holding the ring close in his hands. “I miss you so much,” he whispered into his hand, before tugging the ring into his shirt.

 He took a few deep breaths, to regain his usual composed posture.

 

His phone started to ring, while he was looking at himself in the mirror.  
“Tsukishima?” He answered.  
“Akaashi? …  Understood. I’ll see you there.”

 

Before putting his phone back into his pocket and following Akaashi’s request to come and meet him and Iwaizumi at Bokuto and Akaashi’s house, he saw the flash of a message of someone he really didn’t want to talk to right now.

 

**ThatOneAsshole [19:07]:** **_“I have another job for you.”_ **


	4. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am again!  
> I'm really glad you guys seem to enjoy the story so much. I'm having tons of fun writing it!  
> My problem is just work and christmas preparations are kinda overwhelming me at the moment, so writing more is hard. <_<
> 
> Anyway, here you go with a little bit of KuroTsuki and a tiny whiny bit of BokuAka backstory.  
> Have fun!

_Kuroo Tetsuro and Tsukishima Kei were an odd couple, everyone who met them agreed._  
_However the two were in a loving long term relationship.  
_ _It had all started with a training camp of both their schools. Kuroo fell head over heels for the tall lanky blonde that played the exact same position as him. Over the times they saw each other Kuroo always tried to get the blond’s attention. Kei looked so annoyed and unapproachable, the older one had liked the challenge. He saw Kei as the cool kid, who always felt superior to everyone else, until Kuroo learned - more on accident than anything else - that Kei was a giant nerd (just like himself, but the attractive blond didn’t need to know that)._

_Kuroo managed to get Kei’s phone number - none of them remembered how exactly - and they started to text about things outside of volleyball and developed something close to a friendship pretty easily and Kuroo’s crush kept growing._

_He would have asked him out on the spot, after Kei revealed having had feelings for men before, but they lived in two different prefectures, had completely different schedules and Kuroo was in the middle of his final exams too. He wouldn’t have time to give Kei the relationship he deserved._  
  
_He hadn’t counted on Kei to be bold enough to ask him out out of the blue while they were on the phone, Kuroo complaining about his teacher._

 

“You don’t understand Tsukki! He’s is horrible. And so homophobic. God I wish I could have stuffed his big stupid mouth with the chalk he seems to love so much,” Kuroo whined into the phone and looked up at the ceiling.

“Tsukki, are you still there?”

“Go out with me Tetsuro.”

"Wait, what? I was talking about- Tsukki! I don't-"

"Listening to you made me realise that I don't hate listening to you.. so.. go out with me? Please?"

 

_There was a long silence. It was the first and luckily not the last time Kei had used his first name. He loved the way he said it, with so much purpose._

_They had a long discussion after their first date - Kei invited Kuroo to a movie in a local cinema in Miyagi - whether or not this was worth a try, judging by their busy lives._

_But Kei had insisted that he wanted to give it a try, even if it was just to shut up the thoughts in his head that were constantly circling around Kuroo alone._

_Kuroo graduated and Kei managed to come and see his ceremony. It made the older of the couple cry, even though he denied the tears straight away._

_Kuroo stayed in Tokyo to study, and Kei came over as much as he could._

_When it was Kei’s turn to graduate, Kuroo came to see him as well, even though he had said his exams wouldn’t let him._ _  
_ Needless to say his classmates were surprised to see Kei cry so openly.

_They moved to Tokyo together, where Kei started his police training, it was what he had always wanted._

_In his training he had met Akaashi. Even though he was a year older, they were in the same year of training. Kei learned that Akaashi had dropped out of highschool after his first year and proceeded military training. He had wanted to finish that, before he moved back to Tokyo to become a police officer._

_The two got along splendidly, and Akaashi seemed to also get along greatly with their teacher. Young Bokuto Koutarou had just finished his own training a year before and was now on duty to take care of the rookies._

_K_ _ei knew that Akaashi was madly in love with their teacher and the two hooked up. But that was all it seemed to be, hooking up, the relieve of someone there to take the stress out on. Bokuto had stated very clearly that he hadn’t wanted a relationship, because if that were to come out he’d lose his job immediately. Relationships at the workplace were forbidden, let alone between the teacher and his subordinate._

_Akaashi was persistent however, going along with everything Bokuto had wanted, agreeing to keeping this casual. That was until Bokuto started dating a beautiful woman he had met on one of their jobs. It left Akaashi in pieces, for him and Kuroo to pick up._

_Kuroo, though he was on the way to become a teacher and had therefore nothing to do with their work, was becoming close friends with Akaashi and Bokuto alike. They hung out a lot, with or without Kei. Not that Kei cared much, really. He had been jealous at first, but that feeling left him quickly._

_The couple took care of Akaashi and it was up to Kuroo to fight some sense into Bokuto._

_Kei never asked how he managed to make Bokuto take the risk, he might have been slightly scared of the answer, but it worked out in the end, so he didn’t need to know._

_Bokuto and Akaashi got together, but they had to keep their relationship a secret to basically everyone in their office._

_That was why the two were even more grateful to have friends like Kei and Kuroo, who couldn’t care less about what kind of rules the two were breaking. They were familiar with the feeling of doing something forbidden and having to sneak around. Kuroo’s parents weren’t talking to him anymore, because of his relationship with Kei._  

_After they finished their training, Akaashi and Kei were sorted into a team together with Bokuto, by their chief from back then, Ikkei Ukai. Though he retired soon after that decision and Sawamura Daichi took over._

_On the day they got official police officers, Kuroo took Kei out for a date, asking him to marry him. Of course Kei couldn’t help but say yes._

_Over all Kei was happy with the life he had. He should have known that it was too good to be true._

 

_It all changed on a beautiful sunny Wednesday._

 

Kuroo was already awake and getting ready to leave for his job, when Kei woke up and joined his finacé.  
“You should stay in bed a little longer, you know?” He smiled sleepily at Kuroo and kissed his cheek. He had long gotten over his fear of affection with Kuroo.

 “Well, you see someone has to be at work before 9, love. How about you just get up earlier.”

Kei rolled his eyes and shook his head. “We both know that’s not gonna happen.”  
  
Kuroo simply chuckled and wrapped Kei in his arms, pulling him closer by his hips. “I know, I know.” He pecked his lips gently.

“Be careful today.”

Three easy words. They sounded almost funny to Kei, but he knew Kuroo meant them everytime they left his mouth. He was worried about Kei getting hurt, receiving a call from his chief, saying that Kei had been killed on a job. 

“I will. See you later. Love you.”  
  
Kuroo grinned, “love you too.”  
  
_With that he left. Kei hadn’t known it would be forever. If he had, he would have said so many more things to him. He would had kissed him goodbye, he would had made sure Kuroo knew exactly how much he loved and appreciated him._

  _But he realized his chance passed, when he got a phone call that morning from a distressed Akaashi._

_Bokuto had been shot in the back and was now in the hospital._

_Kei was already grabbing his coat to go and comfort his friend, when Akaashi called out to him with a weak voice._

 

“Someone died there.. And it might.. they think… It might Kuroo.”

 

 _Everything stopped inside of Kei at those words. He felt his heart stop for a split second, before it started taunting him with those strong fast beats as his body produced adrenaline._  

_He arrived in the hospital in under 15 minutes, meeting Akaashi outside. They wouldn’t let either of them into Bokuto’s room. His heart still hadn't calmed down in the slightest._

_He received the news on accident as he heard a nurse talking to a doctor who came out of a room. They were talking about a young man, being shot to death, about what a tragedy it was for such a young soul to lose his life._

  _Kei stood up and walked towards the room, doctors calling out to him that he had no business in there, but Kei didn’t care. He needed to know. He needed to know that it wasn’t Kuroo._

_But upon entering the room, his blood ran cold and he could feel his heartbeat increase once more. It was beating in a way that was making fun of him, a painful reminder that he was alive, with a beating heart, while the person he had intended to marry one day, when they were older and had more money at hand, had no heartbeat anymore. His muscles stopped moving, no more blood was flowing through his veins, no more brain activity to use and make fun of Kei crying over him._

 

_K_ _ei didn’t remember much more from that day or the following._

_He only knew that someone, presumably Yamaguchi, who after all this time was still there, took him home._

_Kei didn’t know how Yamaguchi knew where he was or how he knew about Kuroo being dead, he assumed that Akaashi must have called him._

_Yamaguchi took care of him, telling Hitoka, his wife since a few months back then, that he would spend a few days at Kei’s._

_It was a hard job to say the least, because Kei refused to eat anything, sleep or talk about how he felt. He would go to work early and come back late, to avoid Yamaguchi’s worried gaze as much as possible._

 

_He had been assigned the case about Kuroo’s murder, even though Akaashi disapproved about taking a personal case, he wouldn’t tell their Chief about the relationship between Kei and Kuroo. Akaashi had never seen Kei so focused on a task. Though he would have been the same when it would be about Bokuto._

_The later was in their apartment, out of the hospital, but not ready to work yet. He was shot_ _once in an attempt to solve the problem on the street. The second shot came when the already wounded Bokuto threw himself Kuroo, who was walking down the street and got shot on accident. But it was useless. The teacher was dead immediately._

_Needless to say, Bokuto was blaming himself for what happened, even though it wasn’t his fault, Akaashi insisted._

_Neither of the three attended Kuroo’s funeral. Kuroo’s parents had organized it and Kei couldn’t take their lies and their hypocrisy, talking as if they knew their son at all._

 

 _Everyone in the office, who knew about Kei and Kuroo tipped around Kei and Bokuto as if they were made out of glass._  
_Bokuto eventually got a psychologist to help him deal with his guilt and his nightmares._  
_  
Kei however snapped eventually when Sawamura put the case on ice to focus on other cases. They didn’t have any leads on who could have been involved in the shootings._

_It wasn’t a pretty confrontation and Sawamura went home that night with a black eye and Kei left the office with a suspension for a few weeks and a warning that the next slip up would end his career._

 

_Kei had to promise Yamaguchi to let the case go after he heard about the incident at the office and in return he would stop offering Kei psychologists to help him deal with his loss and his clearly developing eating disorder._

_Kei agreed, but only two weeks later picked up the case and proceeded working on it, on his own._

  
~~~~  


**ThatOneAsshole [19:07]:** **_“I have another job for you.”_ **

 

Kei ignored the message and pocketed his phone. He would deal with this later. Meeting with Akaashi and Iwaizumi about the possible connection was a lot more important in his opinion.

Kei took his coat with him, his keys and one quick glance at himself in the mirror in the hallway. _It was going to be okay_ , he told himself.

One deep breath and Kei left the apartment and the building. His car was parked in its usual spot right in front of the door. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, indicating that he got another message, but Kei decided to ignore it once more.

 

The car ride was long, because of the traffic. It took a lot off Kei to not snap at every single incompetent driver on the streets and he instantly wished he had taken the tube instead. Idiot. Why did his two partners have to live so far off in the first place?

It took him almost 45 minutes, for a way that he was usually able to do in 20 and his phone vibrated 3 more times. Why couldn’t this guy leave him the fuck alone?

He checked the messages, as soon as he had parked outside the apartment complex of Bokuto and Akaashi.

 

 **ThatOneAsshole [19:10]:** **_“Ignoring me? How rude! After all I have done for you!”_ **

 

 **ThatOneAsshole [19:15]:** **_“I’m sure you’re very interested in what I found yesterday. But you know the drill.”_ **

 

 **ThatOneAsshole [19:25]:** **_“Stop ignoring me Kei-chan! You know how much I hate being ignored when I have a job for you! I’m sure your fiancé would be disappointed with your attitude towards someone who’s just trying to help you”_ ** ****__  
  


**ThatOneAsshole [19:49]:** **_“I expect you at mine tomorrow at 9 pm. If you’re not there.. well you know ;).”_ **

 

 **Tsukishima Kei [20:00]:** **_“I’ll be there…”_ **

 

 **ThatOneAsshole [20:00]:** **_“I know~ ;) I knew I could always trust you, Kei-chan~”_ **

 

Kei grumbled to himself. He hated that guy. With a passion.

But he needed to calm down. He needed to collect himself for the meeting at hand.  
He rang the bell, was let in and walked with long legs all the way upstairs into the 6th floor.

He was not met by Akaashi, like expected, instead the door was open. Kei stepped inside and peeked into the kitchen. 

Iwaizumi Hajime sat facing him at the kitchen table, a big amount of files all over the it.

“Tsukishima! Glad that you could make it. We found some interesting stuff,” Iwaizumi greeted and Kei simply nodded, sitting down.  
  
His face fell onto one of the pictures on the file on top, his eyes widening slightly in horror. The picture showed no other than Oikawa Tooru, main suspect in the case of the Grand King…

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, I went with a flashback type of thing here.  
> I'm curious to see how you guys liked it.  
> So please leave comments, questions etc for me, I love reading those!
> 
> Regarding my next update, because I'm going home for Christmas, I most likely won't make it on Wednesday, but I'll try my best to get it up as soon as possible. Thank you guys <3


	5. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooo..  
> This is a little shorter than usually, but I hope you appreciate it anyway!  
> Enter more of Iwaizumi and some details on his case.  
> It's more of a filler chapter though to build the main part of the story though, I'm sorry. Be patient with me!  
> Next chapter the real action will start (hopefully) ^^
> 
> Maybe some more at the end ;)  
> as always, comments, questions etc are appreciated <3  
> See you guys next week, and now! ENJOY!

Kei stayed for hours in Akaashi’s apartment. Iwaizumi had a lot on the case, even talked about suspects he had at the very beginning.

Iwaizumi Hajime was a 26 year old police officer specified on the Mafia cases in their prefecture.   
He took over the case of the Grand King when he heard about the possible connection to a gang. That was almost a year ago now and from what Kei could see, he was doing his job properly.  
The Grand King, from what Iwaizumi had gathered so far, was not necessarily one person alone, but an entire organisation. 

Oikawa Tooru was a suspect in the case, because Iwaizumi had the suspicion that he might be the leader. Over the years Oikawa had been suspect of a few murder and drug dealing cases, but one could never find enough evidence to have a lawsuit against him that would be successful. But Iwaizumi was confident that in this case he can make sure that Oikawa will be immobilized. 

When it was time for Kei and Akaashi to present their case to Iwaizumi, Bokuto joined the three as well, after making them all some nice warm drink. He sat down, dropping a casual kiss on Akaashi’s head. If it surprised Iwaizumi, he didn’t let it show on his face. 

Armed with coffee Akaashi opened the few files they had on the King Killings. 

“Our killer kills at night and has to know what days the victims stay late. He must be planning the killings, since there has never once been a witness to any of the killings. And he never broke into any of the offices either,” Akaashi started, pointing at some pictures of the victims next.

“He always has the same way of killing them. One shot into the stomach, one above the heart, one in the head. We don’t know why or what it means, but it seems to be of at least a little significance, since he never dares to break the pattern. Even our last victim has the same shot wound, even if he had five wounds out of place.” Bokuto explained, following Akaashi’s hand with his eyes for his explanation.

“How do you know it’s a man?” Iwaizumi asked, since the three have always used specific pronouns.

Bokuto explained: “The first two victims tried to put up a fight, but they were found thrown over their desk, right next to their file. The second one was rather large and had two broken ribs. The amount of strength needed to move two grown men, both weighing over 90 kg, and one of almost two meters, onto their desk indicates that, unless the woman is a body builder, the killer was a man, who has to be at least working out regularly, or might even have a job where body fitness is important.”   
  
Iwaizumi nodded, understandingly. 

Kei took out the picture of the sign the killer left behind everytime out of the folder and showed it to Iwaizumi.   
  
“Every crime scene has this on the wall in very obvious places. It’s drawn in the blood of the victim and no matter what we do, we can’t find any DNA but the victim’s. We thought at first that the killer makes the victims draw the symbols themselves, but that seems unlikely as they don’t have any blood on their hands. So he seems to know what he is doing and knows how to keep his DNA off the crime scene.”   
  
Looking at the picture, Iwaizumi’s hand moved up to his left shoulder, rubbing slightly over a spot. It seemed like an odd reaction to what he was seeing, making Kei squint his eyes at him slightly. But maybe he was just paranoid about all the information Iwaizumi already had on the Grand King. Who knew.  
“A crown, huh..” The brown-haired man said softly to himself as he observed the picture in front of him. Kei thought he saw a flicker in his eye, something similar to fascination, but Iwaizumi’s eyes hid all emotions again quickly and he was back to his professional persona. 

“The route Ukai used was very clearly almost the same one The Grand King used, so I assume that’s why he was on the victim list. Another thing that I found out is that they don’t seem to sell drugs to just anyone. It would usually only be big companies and firms and their bosses.”

Bokuto raised his arm to say something as well, getting eyed confused by the other three men around the table. But the white haired man ignored that, simply starting to speak after he had all their attention. He pulled out his phone to show them a video.

“I got sent the video of their security camera. It’s like it always is, two tall men walking into the building. They enter Ukai’s office and as soon as they leave again the cameras stopped working until the next day.”

Akaashi sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair. “It’s always the same two as well, but we never get a clear shot of their face. We don’t know the name either. But we know they’re part of the murders as well. They appear at every new crime scene a few hours before the murder.”

Iwaizumi nodded, taking the phone from Bokuto to take a look at the two as well. “They.. look like The Servants. That’s what we called them at least. I have been trying to figure those two out the first time they caught my attention. But they always use different names to get past the secretary and they seem to do the negotiation and the deals. A few of the men I arrested claim to never have seen the Grand King himself and only ever spoke to those two. But every name I get is fake.”

 

Kei was silent for most of their discussion. He nibbled anxiously on a pen, looking at the picture of the very first victim of the King Killings, a man named Nakatani Mitsuo. The man was part of a human trafficking organisation and used his position of power to cover up his second way of earning money, covering them as payments of a big firm they were supposedly producing for. No questions asked. Nakatani had people working for him in many positions, so no one ever wondered about the firm that didn’t even exist. 

Upon thinking more and more about the victims, Kei felt a kind of nausea hitting him hard and he got up quickly, running into the bathroom to throw up. His head was spinning and his body aching. The last time he felt like that was- No. No, this wasn’t the same. Those were  _ pictures  _ dammit! He had seen them a billion times before. 

Kei felt weak, weaker than he had in a long time. And he didn’t know how to stop his head from spinning. He didn’t know how to stop the world from spinning!   
It was going too fast, and Kei just wanted to get out. Out.  _ OUT.  _

He wasn’t sure how long he actually sat there, but when he felt a hand on his shoulder he turned and saw Iwaizumi, he wanted to throw up all over again.

“Are you alright?” Such a genuine question. Kei hated it.

“Maybe you should go home for now.. We’ll fill you in in what we talked about tomorrow.”

Iwaizumi was a buff looking guy, all muscles like Bokuto, but with a mean look accompanying a well build and trained body, unlike his partner. 

But Iwaizumi was a perfect example for “don’t judge a book by its cover”, because behind all the angry, annoyed looks, he was a nice person, who had troubles expressing himself, properly. Kei absolutely hated it. He didn’t need sympathy, pity or anything like that! He just needed… he just needed to calm his world down again, needed to find a way to stop and breathe. He felt like he was suffocating, like he was slowly but surely dying by the inability to function. He lost his humanity months ago, his right to be  _ just Kei _ died when Kuroo did.    
But he wanted all of that back, fall into someone’s arms who would be able to handle the mess that was Kei’s life. But now he had only himself to shoulder the burden that was too much for him to carry by himself. 

 

Not one word left his mouth as he grabbed Iwaizumi’s offered hand.

The shorter man helped him up and Kei let go immediately as he stood. He walked out of the bathroom and went to get his coat.

He didn’t even say goodbye, he just left the apartment, got into his car and drove home.

He turned his radio as loud as he could handle, music blasting through the speakers. 

He drove faster than he should as all kinds of songs come on. Kuroo’s mix. 

He couldn’t bring himself to change the music though, his shaking hands gripping the steering wheel tightly. 

Kuroo was very into old music and Kei found a little bit of comfort in the old tunes of Elvis and David Bowie drowning out all kinds of outside noises. It was like coming home after a long day and cuddling up in a warm and large blanket on the couch. 

He hated how every single song was a reminder of how much he actually messed this all up. He was supposed to honor Kuroo’s memory and live his best life, because of how his fiancé’s death showed how quick it can be over. He was supposed to move on from this and get over Kuroo, so he could find final happiness in the living. And every single song he listened to reminded him that he didn’t do any of those things. 

No, instead, he got his best friend to be angry at him for not keeping a promise, got his partners worried about his mental state, had a breakdown about stupid pictures and worst of all, he was still obsessing over a case that he wasn’t allowed to work on anymore.

Instead of getting better, he would go home and add things he learned about Kuroo’s death to his wall. Hell, he would have to add someone he knew to his wall, someone he worked with!

 

But Kei had to push his new plans and new discoveries away for a while as he spotted a very familiar car outside his apartment complex.    
  
“What the hell..?”   


He got out of his car, inspecting the other car.

It stood more than innocent in a parking lot reserved for one of his neighbors. It didn’t look suspicious at all. The fact that it was  _ here _ though concerned Kei more than anything.

Instead of wasting even more  time down there, Kei entered his apartment building and jogged up the stairs until he reached his. The door was open, clearly broken into. Kei would have to repair that and he already felt the headache coming.

He sneaked slowly into his apartment, towards his kitchen where he kept one of his two guns. Kuroo had hated that he kept it there, as if it was part of the cutlery inside as well. But for Kei it was always convenient, the kitchen was right next to the door. Instead of having to take a knife to defend himself, he could just get the gun from the drawer.    
No one would think he would keep a gun with his spoons and forks.

He opened a drawer and pulled it out. Holding it tight and releasing the safety, he walked through his small apartment. Had he been wrong and he saw a random car outside? He entered the living room and held his gun out. But it was empty, it looked almost untouched. Almost.

The cushions were smoothed out and the cups were removed from his table. What the hell..? Yamaguchi had a key and if he forgot or lost it, he wouldn’t have broken into his apartment.    
So it really was him, huh? Kei let out a sigh.  _ I really don’t want to deal with him right now. Maybe I can shoot him, if he gives me a reason to.. _

His head snapped back up, when he heard a noise from the bedroom, it sounded like something broke. 

He brought his gun back in position and walked up to his bedroom, he kicked the the door open and held his gun up. 

Though he dropped it as soon as he saw  _ two _ intruders, instead of the one he anticipated.   
  
“What the fuck?!”   
  
In his bedroom, holding the broken frame of the picture of him and Kuroo were Kyoutani Kentarou and Oikawa Tooru. 

 

“Kei-chan! What a pretty picture you have here,” Oikawa greeted, in a bittersweet voice.


	6. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEAR  
> ahhhh, sorry I didn't make it in time again!  
> My last few days were crazy, so I wasn't sure if I would be able to upload in time, but here I am with another chapter and more action!  
> I hope you guys like it <3
> 
> Comments and Kudos, questions and whatever else are always welcome!

“Close your mouth Kei-chan, and pick up your gun, we don’t want it to fire on accident, do we?” Oikawa said charmingly.  
  
The brown haired man, if one ignored his personality and his job, would be considered pretty. He was tall, and skinny, but Kei knew the guy had muscles, he just wasn’t one to show them off, like some of his colleagues. But Kei wouldn’t call anyone out on it. (Though Bokuto and Iwaizumi were known to have contests in the office provided gym and Nishinoya and Tanaka would join in every now and then. Yamamoto didn’t because he claimed he would work them all to death, but Kei was sure he was just too scared of actually losing to the two buff police officers).

Oikawa knew how to handle himself well, walking and talking with purpose, his eyes always looking down on whoever he was talking to, even if that person was taller than him like Kei.   
He knew how to handle people with every kind of personalities.  
And the way he was staring Kei down made the blond uncomfortable.

Oikawa clicked his tongue annoyed at the tall blond man in front of him. “You’re a terrible host, Kei-chan. I’ll go and make myself coffee, if that old thing of yours even still works.”  
  
Oikawa walked past Kei, back straight, shoulders in perfect position giving away an Aura of superiority. Kyotani following like an obedient dog, though the man had a scowl on his face, like always.   
Once Kei was standing alone in his bedroom, he realized what exactly was happening right now.   
  
_Oikawa Tooru had broken into his apartment!_   
  
Kei quickly picked up his gun, putting the safety back in place, before sliding it into his trousers at his back. He turned around quickly and walked after the two uninvited guests.   
  
“What the hell are you two doing here?!”   
  
“I texted you,” Oikawa answered calmly.   
  
“Yeah, you did. But you said tomorrow. And now is not tomorrow, nor is it your place. What the hell were you thinking?!” Kei hissed angrily at him.

“What if someone saw you walk in here? Are you aware that the police is after you?”  


Oikawa took the cup of coffee -handed to him by his.. henchman?- and took a seat at Kei’s table.

“You don’t have any food in the house. What a terrible way of living. And I know for a fact you’re making more than enough money. This apartment doesn’t seem expensive at all.”

Kei felt his eye starting to twitch and his hands wanting to grab for his gun. God, he should just shoot this guy and say it was self defense. Why wasn’t he listening? Why didn’t he care? How could one person with his lifestyle be this laid back? The fucking Police was after him!  
  
“Oikawa,” Kei gritted out, “what do you want?”

A charming and at the same time very cold smile graced Oikawa’s face.

“I got a job for you, I told you.”

“And again, you said we’d meet tomorrow.”

Oikawa let out a deep sigh, that almost sounded distressed.

“Yeah, I know. But I need you to go as soon as possible. That guy got some dirt on my men and I can’t let him run around threatening me to expose my family like that.”

Family… with that the man meant the guys working for him. He explained to Kei once that he always took those without perspective or family in and would “help them out”. Though Kei wasn’t sure if the kind of work those kids did would count as “helping them out”...

“Already? Don’t you think two murders so close to one another seem suspicious?”  
  
“Why?” Oikawa asked, sounding genuinely confused.   
“They know they all belong together anyway. If I have them killed after one day or three weeks won’t really make a difference, would it?”

Kei bit his lip. “What would be in for me? You know I’m not cheap.”  
  
Kei did not like the smirk that formed on Oikawa’s face. He almost took a step back as well, but refrained from doing so, to try and keep the little authority he had against Oikawa.

Oikawa waved his hand at Kyotani and the man handed Kei a file he was apparently carrying around in a bag with him all this time. Kei hasn’t noticed the bag, but that was most likely due to the shock of having his other boss appear suddenly in his apartment, when he only thought to find Kyotani waiting in his doorway.

“We got new information on the shooting. Kenma got some of the names of the guys from Shiratorizawa who were involved in the fight as well.”

Kei immediately opened the file and looked through the pictures and names. His hands were shaking. A step closer-  
  
“You only get to keep this though, if you accept, of course.”

Oikawa was sly. He knew how to get under your skin, knew how to bribe you into doing his bidding. It didn’t take very long for Oikawa to figure out how to buy Kei’s help.

He offered him to help out with his case on Kuroo, since his guys didn’t have to follow any strict rules when it came to research. Kenma, a hacker he picked up in his school, had no problems finding whatever information you need. Depending on how secure this information was the little guy would be even more enthusiastic about the challenges.

In return of those information, Kei agreed to do some dirty work for Oikawa. Figuratively and literally spoken. He had ruined some good clothes with blood already because of it.

“Who do you need me to kill?” Kei asked, defeated, making Oikawa’s smirk grow.

 

~~~~~~~

 

The next day in the office, Kei was tired and already on his fourth cup of coffee, when Iwaizumi approached him.   
He placed a file in front of him on his desk.    
  
“Good to see you’re feeling better,” the older man said so genuinely Kei wanted to leave straight away. “Those are the routes the Grand King takes and known big companies that have worked with him in the past. Maybe at least a few of the new leaders of those firms are willing to help us out, since it’s about murders. We hope to be able to get the killer to come to one of those firms next so we can catch him red-handed.”

Kei looked down suspiciously at the files on his desk. He opened the one on the top and just casually scanned the papers.    
  
“I assume you’re on the case now as well?” Kei asked, not looking up to meet Iwaizumi’s eyes. He didn’t want the man to see how deep the circles under his eyes were, how tired and broken he looked this morning. Kei wasn’t sure why but he had the irrational fear that Iwaizumi would be able to read him like an open book, that he would see all the lies he was tangled in and all the bad things he has done. He was scared that Iwaizumi would realize he was working with Oikawa, he was scared he would realize how much Kei needed Oikawa to find Kuroo’s murderer. 

“Yeah, Bokuto, Akaashi and I already talked to Chief Sawamura about it. He also thinks it would be the best idea, so me and Kageyama are joining you, since he worked on the case as well. I like to keep my eyes on him, he tends to get himself into trouble... Anyway, our cases are intertwining now. Even if they are not the same person, I feel like they are at least all part of the same gang.”

Kei held in a scoff, because if there was someone in this office he would avoid working with at all costs, it was Kageyama Tobio. He couldn’t handle the guy or the way he acted all the time. He could already feel headache come in.

He wanted to ask Iwaizumi about transferring Kageyama onto another case, maybe with Yamamoto, Nishinoya and Tanaka.. but when he finally looked up, it was almost as if his irrational fear became reality.

The twinkle in his eyes and the little but confident smile on Iwaizumi’s face told Kei that he knew more about the case than he told them last night. Or maybe he was just lacking the evidence to proof his theory.  But Kei could see that Iwaizumi Hajime knew that catching Oikawa was the right thing to do. It brought fear up into Kei’s heart. If Oikawa was caught before Kei was done with his case, he was done for and Kuroo’s murderer would be still alive and out there instead of in prison, or better yet, dead.

Before he could think about how he would kill the murderer of his fiancé and get rid of his new partner at the same time in detail, Akaashi came towards his desk.   
  
“Tsukki, you’re here, good,” Akaashi said in a calm voice, looking at his partner and friend, something was off though. He never called him Tsukki. Only Bokuto and Yamaguchi would call him by that name ever since Kuroo died. 

“There’s a new victim, Yasufumi Nekomata. Bokuto is already getting everything in the car.”

Akaashi was glowing with a weird aura of excitement around him. He usually got it, when Bokuto was planning something nice and he wanted to tell Kei about it or when they had a new development in a case.   
Kei desperately hoped it was the former.

“What’s different this time?” Kei asked curiously. But Kei didn’t think his heart would skip a beat at the answer, and not in the nice way you read in books. The kind that makes your blood run cold, your stomach drop and lets you feel nauseous.

“We have a witness.”

 

 


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Warning: More explicit gun violence and blood description

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeyy, I'm on time!  
> New Chapter, with a little more description of gun violence.  
> I hope you guys like it!  
> It finally starts heading into the more interesting phase!
> 
> Comments, questions, etc are appreciated <3

Kei was sure he had been alone.  
He was sure that he double checked that the office floor was completely empty.  
He was sure he had checked if his suppressor was secured and perfectly in place.  
He never made a mistake before, so why the hell was there a witness all of a sudden?

Kei’s hands were sweating badly, he rubbed them together. He rubbed over the already healed bruise from the last mission after that. He was lucky this one hadn’t put up as much of a fight as Ukai had done. It would be suspicious if he showed up with more bruises again, after a new victim was found.  
Kei couldn’t seem suspicious! He would be found out, before he could finish his case.

Kei clenched his sweating fists and shoved them into his pockets as he looked out of the car window.

He tried to ignore the piercing gaze of Akaashi through the front mirror. He took several deep breaths. At least Iwaizumi and Kageyama were using their own damn car, he couldn’t deal with them, too. Neither with Kageyama’s stupidity or Iwaizumi’s overbearing and gentleness. It was off throwing, the guy really needed to stop his sympathetic looks, as if he understood was Kei was going through, as if he knew exactly what Kei was feeling and what he was doing. And though he wouldn’t doubt Iwaizumi had lost someone already as well, but he wasn’t in Kei’s position. Kei took the phrase “I would kill for you” a little bit too literally, but now it was too late to back down.

Last night he had a very terrifying realization. The power he felt holding the gun at the man’s head, the knowledge of what the payment would be for a mere human life, had felt good. The first time firing the gun, he was anxious, shaking. He hadn’t been intimidating at all, pathetic more than anything else.

But yesterday night, Kei felt the rush of adrenaline run through his veins, his blood was flooding faster through his body before he even reached the top floor. His entire body was waiting for the moment he would shoot his gun.

What a sick and twisted thing to feel, Kei had thought at first, when Oikawa suggested for Kei to be his “hitman”. The excitement in the brown haired man’s eyes had almost scared Kei off. How could someone feel anything but guilt and disgust when killing someone?  
But after the first two killings the disgust had completely disappeared. It was turning more into an annoyance, and inconvenience if the victim tried to talk their way out of it, or even tried to put up a fight.

 

Last night, when Oikawa had left, Kei had sunk into his couch, closing his eyes. He didn’t want to go. Not now, not ever. The honking of a very familiar van gave him no choice though.

Kei grabbed a change of clothes, Oikawa insisted on him wearing “hitman” clothes, whatever that meant. He put on a white button down shirt, changed his pants into more comfortable ones, tugging the shirt in. He took a pair of Kuroo’s suspenders and put them on as well. It was like his good luck charm, since he usually left his ring untouched in its box. He grabbed a tailored suit jacket, that Oikawa had given him and a tie to go with it. He hated how he liked the outfit. He hated how he wanted to wear something like this on special occasions instead of for another murder.

Kei put keys in his pocket and left quickly, in time for the third honk of the van. Did they want to wake up the neighbors or what?!

He took a deep breath and jumped into the passenger's seat of the van. On the steering wheel was Matsukawa Issei, smirking lazily.

“Took you long enough.”

Kei simply scoffed at the older man and rolled his eyes. He crossed his arms over his chest.  
  
It was like the man wanted to tease him until he snapped, Matsukawa turned the radio louder, earning a loud laugh from the back of the van. The laugh couldn’t belong to anyone but Hanamaki Takahiro. Those two idiots had been like this towards Kei since the beginning.  
But if he wanted to believe Kenma and Oikawa’s words, they were like this with everyone.  
  
“Oi! Lighten up a little Kei, will ya?” Hanamaki called from the back.

Kei hated the use of his first name, like it was a toy they could toss around, getting the younger man to react in anger. But Kei would always only reward them with stoic silence.

He was taught that if he ignored the bullies, they would get bored and would eventually leave him alone.  
That usually worked perfectly fine, or he would use his well developed attitude to make everyone around him feel inferior. But with those two, neither worked. He tried the first time to talk them down, but they just shrugged every comment off or high fived over it.  
They were like parasites, trying to eat away the rest of Kei’s sanity and patience, but Kei wouldn’t give in so easily. He wouldn’t allow himself the embarrassment of a reaction.

As Matsukawa drove to their location, briefing Kei again about the new victim and the plan. It was different then the other times. He would have to put down fake files, since Nekomata had an actually very clean record. Not even one ticket for wrong parking. Kei wouldn’t have been comfortable with falsely accusing someone of crimes before, but now, after 8 successful murders and the possibility of getting caught along with the entirety of Aoba Johsai, he didn’t really have luxury to complain about the fake files.

After killing and delivering the fake ones, he was supposed to steal the files on Aoba Johsai as well. Kei nodded along, he should be able to do this, the hardest part would be already done.

He reached into the glovebox in front of him and pulled out two pair of rubber gloves, some small technical devices he didn’t know the names of and a pistol registered on no one. He was sure it was stolen, but he couldn’t care less where it came from or what model it was. The priority was it didn’t match his police gun.

The small window build into the wall between driver’s cabin and the back of the van was opened and Kenma silently handed Kei an ear piece. Kei was familiar with the small device and put it into his ear straight away.

He turned to Matsukawa. “Park one block down east, and I swear to god, don’t you dare mess this up.”

The last part was directed at Matsukawa _and_ Hanamaki. Those two sure had too much fun on their jobs and Kei really didn’t want to deal with their bullshit, when he was already agitated and tired. He grabbed the folder Matsukawa held out to him with a scoff.

Kei closed his eyes and took a deep breath before exiting the van, confidently walking towards the tall building.

Entering was always the easiest part. He had Kenma on his side, helping him with the automatic doors and always making sure all the cameras were repeating the same pictures over and over again. They learned from their first mistake of simply turning them off. That was a lot more obvious than repeating prerecorded night shifts.

Kei used the stairs, he couldn’t risk getting caught because of a noisy lift or worse get stuck in that damn thing. No, Kei walked upstairs, taking some deep breaths.  
  
_“You seem on edge.”_ Kenma said into his ear. The kid was way too sharp for Kei’s liking.

“I’m not on edge, I’m fucking tired. Oikawa should shove spontaneous missions up his ass..”

_“You know he only does it to protect what is important to him.”_

Kei clicked his tongue quietly and shook his head.

_“And you agreed to this to avenge what’s important to you. You can’t really blame him.”_

It was rare to see Kenma agree with Oikawa so openly. Normally Kei and him agreed on a lot of things concerning this group.  
The kids Oikawa had taken in were still so young, Kenma included. Some still went to college.

Kenma was picked up by Oikawa in College as well. The brown haired man was studying business management. Kenma was studying game development and computer science.

He was the perfect candidate for Oikawa’s little underground business.

Kenma had told Kei that when Oikawa found out about Kenma being paid for hacking various websites for many different reasons the blond never questioned, Oikawa hadn’t really given him a chance.  
But in retrospect, Kenma had needed the money Oikawa was able to provide and along with the money he also got an apartment and basically another family.

Kei had realized that no matter how much fun everyone made off their boss or how badly they talked about him, everyone saw their little drug ring as family, whether as an extended part of the only family they had.

He dropped the subject with Kenma and reached the top floor. Lucky for him it wasn’t a skyscraper.

 _“His office is on the left side at the end of the corridor, make it quick and try to avoid unnecessary waste of time and bullets.”_ _  
_

Kei knew exactly what Kenma was getting at. He got a little carried away with Ukai.

But the man had been pushing Kei’s buttons on purpose, trying to buy his way out of it with information on Kuroo.

**_“If you kill me, you’ll never know the truth.”_ **

“I will be quick. I already said I’m tired,” Kei answered annoyed. He usually got along with Kenma well enough, but today was not his best day. He had so many information to process, there was no room for being nice at work…

Kei walked down the corridor, after getting out of the stairway.

He fixed his suit jacket, pulling his pistol and releasing its safety catch. He held the files, in his free hand.

The door to Nekomata’s office stood ajar. Kei approached it quietly in slow steps. He leaned against the wall and peeked into the office.

Nekomata sat at his desk, typing something into his computer. He didn’t seem to suspect that Kei was right in front his door, ready to kill him any second. He gently put the folder with the fake information on the ground outside of the office, so he didn’t need to worry about them for now.

Kei closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. His heart was beating strongly in his chest, taking in all the adrenaline of the moment. It was the first time he was aware of the fact that the way his heart was racing wasn’t like when Kuroo had died. It wasn’t a mocking, taunting reminder that he was sadly still alive.

The image of an addict sprung into his mind instantly as he stepped into the office. An addict who would do anything to get the kick again, the substance that kept his mind working and his heart racing, that was making him feel alive.

Kei didn’t remember if Nekomata was surprised or shocked. He didn’t remember if he was begging for his life when Kei shot into his stomach.

His mind was blank about whether or not the old man had screamed out in pain or if he asked why Kei was doing this like all the other victims did.  
Kei’s mind was filled with how good it felt to play god over another person’s life. He was busy thinking about how shocked all those people would have been if they knew how little their life was actually worth. A file of information and a few hundred bucks.

Kei was busy aiming his shot above the heart. He didn’t want to kill him immediately, so the shot must be precise.

“Tell me the combination of your safe,” Kei demanded, holding the gun against Nekomata’s head.

The older man was panting apparently, Kei just realized. The sweat forming on the old man’s forehead made Kei almost groan in annoyance.  
“Come on, old man. I don’t have all night and you certainly don’t either,” he snapped.

Nekomata coughed and held the wound in his chest. “You are one of them..! I’m not gonna give you the code. You’re all gonna rot in prison!”

Kei felt the headache coming. He sighed. “Kenma, I need the code for the safe. The guy won’t talk.” He said loud enough for Kenma to hear.

Nekomata’s eyes widen in shock, but before he could say anything else, Kei shot the third bullet in to his head. “Annoying old fucker..” 

Kei made sure to step over the puddle of blood. He didn't want to ruin his shoes or leave footprints around here.  
The blood dripped out of the gaping wound on Nekomata's head. It wasn't nice to look at but only triggered a feeling of indifference inside of Kei. He had seen and done worse.

Tearing his eyes away from the old man, he reached into his pocket and picked out a small device which he connected to the safe.

 _“Give me 3 minutes, more or less,”_ Kenma said directly into his eyes and Kei just nodded, despite the fact that the younger one couldn’t see him do that.

In the meantime Kei got and placed the fake files on the desk, neatly in the centre of it, like always.

After that he took a rubber brush from his chest pocket and started painting the crown on the wall, like Oikawa always requested. It was about a tattoo he got in Highschool or something, Kei didn’t really care. He didn’t need to understand the stupid symbols or names, he just had to follow the orders he has been given.

He heard a _click_ of the safe and the door opened slightly. Kei finished his jobs, tugging the brush away again, before he gathered the files from the safe. He closed the door of it, tugging the files under his arm, before quickly making his way out of the office building.  
  
Not out of guilt or fear of being caught. He knew the faster he got out of there, the faster he could go home and sleep.

 

Not even twelve hours later, he was standing in the exact same office, seeing everything but the corpse exactly the way he had left it last night.

Kei inspected the place. Akaashi and Bokuto were listening to a young woman’s statement, who claimed to have seen the murderer leave the building last night.  
She had an affair with Nekomata, Kei realized that quite quickly. Otherwise there was no need for an assistant be in the office that late at night, after she supposedly already checked out. Kenma had done a rough scanning of the employees too and Nekomata was the only ones still inside. Even the cleaners had left already.

Kei tried not to give away how nervous he was about that woman claiming to be a witness.

He looked away from the three and caught sight of Iwaizumi and Kageyama who seemed to argue about something, Iwaizumi repeatedly pointing at the files Kei had left on the table.

Akaashi and Bokuto joined Kei, making the two drug specialists join the trio as well.  
  
“The files the killer left are fake,” Iwaizumi stated. Kageyama looked like he wanted to argue with that statement again, but kept his mouth shut with a stern look from Iwaizumi.

Akaashi frowned, but Bokuto seemed unfazed. “Seki is getting us copies of files Nekomata apparently had on a drug ring called ‘Aoba Johsai’. She said the name Grand King rings a bell. Maybe they are connected?”  
  
Whatever was said next, didn’t catch Kei’s attention anymore. His ears were ringing. Copies.. Copies..! Of course that guy had fucking copies of those files!

 


	8. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahh, I'm so so so sorry!  
> I know I skipped a week, but I was so damn sick, I couldn't write or edit without falling asleep or a hige fucking headache!  
> That's also why this one is a little shorter and has only one scene, but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless, because it's getting spicy guys! Important stuff is gonna happen~
> 
> Anyway, here it goes, have fun!  
> Comments, questions, etc are as always very welcome!

He was painfully aware of his shaking hands.  
  
As soon as they arrived back in the office, Akaashi had given him the job to take care of the witness report. Seki knew scarily much, but at least she couldn’t describe his face.  
But she wasn’t what bothered him, she could be taken care of sooner or later.  
  
No, what made him shake was Akaashi looking through the files about possible members of Aoba Johsai together with Bokuto. He knew his name was there too, he wasn’t sure how much exactly Nekomata had known and how he connected Kei into the gang, but he knew there was a file on him and his colleagues were about to stumble over it and expose him forever. He was done for.

Or so he thought. There was no weird twitch or scream from either Bokuto nor Akaashi.  
They were taking notes on the members, looking up possible crimes linked to the ones listed.

Kei allowed himself to relax just a little. Maybe he was lucky and he wasn't in the copies. Maybe he-

“Tsukishima? Sawamura needs a word with you,” Akaashi said in his usual cold voice as he approached him from the direction of their chief’s office. He didn’t realize Akaashi got up to go into that office, though he hadn’t realized that the chief came back either. He might still be out of it because of the panic from earlier. He looked up to his friend, Akaashi seemed normal, only his shoulders were tense. Kei blamed it on talking to the chief.

Kei nodded and got up from his chair. Some people eyed him. Whenever Kei was called to the chief, it was usually because of trouble the blond had either caused or got caught up in. But Kei couldn’t remember a slip up, so he walked to the office as calm as he could muster.

“Chief-” Kei wanted to greet, but the office was empty. He turned to find Akaashi closing the door and locking it. The curtains were drawn, so no one could look inside and see what was going on.   
Akaashi was walking calmly towards the table, big steps.  
He looked collected, so Kei wasn’t expecting it when Akaashi slammed a file onto the desk. It made the blond jump.

“Tell me this is a mistake,” Akaashi demanded, calmly.  
  
Kei leaned forward to look at what Akaashi had brought, his heart stopping in his chest. The folder read “Tsukishima Kei, Police Officer, 24”.

Kei opened his mouth to answer, but Akaashi was already talking again.  
  
“Tell me this is a mistake or a sick joke, Kei.!” The shorter man’s voice was more on edge with every word, his eyebrows frowning deeply.

Akaashi’s voice was shaking when he spoke Kei’s first name. The way his friend was looking at him broke his heart. He wanted to deny it! So badly.

“This- I can explain-” He wanted to deny it, but he couldn't.

“What the fuck, Kei?!” He snapped angrily at him. “You have got to be kidding me! What does your name do in those files? Why are you on this list?!”

In all the time Kei knew him, he had never seen Akaashi Keiji screaming like that, panting and fists balled in anger. Akaashi seemed to be exploding. He would have to be reported, he knew that. He knew he was done for. He was out of the game. Prison was waiting, a life sentence.. Kei wasn’t sure if he was ready for that yet, but killing Akaashi and taking the files might be a little too much. Then why did his brain went straight there?

He took a deep breath, only then did he realize how badly his entire body was shaking. He looked directly at Akaashi.

“I need their help to find Kuroo’s murderer,” he admitted quietly. He couldn’t keep eye contact for long, turning away again. He had disappointed not only his dead fiancé but also his three best friends.  

“To find Kuroo’s-” he started and stared at him. “What the hell? You’re still working on that, after all that happened? How stupid are you?” He asked, back in a calmer voice, but if Kei listened closely, he could still hear the hiss of anger deep down in those words.  
  
“I know-”   
  
“No, you obviously don’t know anything. You’re just so incredibly stupid and reckless, not thinking about the consequences! I need to know how you’re connected to all of this Kei. Because if it’s just some small bullshit, I’ll figure out a way to get rid of this file. No one needs to know you work with them. So tell me what you’re doing and they’re doing in return..”

Kei swallowed, sitting down.

“They’re getting me information on Shiratorizawa. The gang they were involved with during the shooting.” It was easier to start with this. It was the nicest part about all those things he had yet to unravel. Akaashi was ready to help him out of this mess, even though he wasn’t sure how deep exactly Kei was involved. He needed to trust his friend.. He needed to trust Akaashi…

“Information? Alright, that’s easy to undermine I guess.. But I guess they’re not giving you those information for nothing..”

Kei closed his eyes and tried to calm his shaking hands. “I have been doing some jobs for Oikawa in return he helped me keep my apartment and got me the information he could find on Kuroo’s killer..”  
  
Akaashi groaned at the vague answer. He started pacing through the office, mumbling to Kei, but mostly himself: “that won’t do.. that won’t do! You needed to tell me what you’re doing, so I can help you out here, Kei.. How long have you been with them?”

“Eleven months..”

Everything stopped. Akaashi stopped pacing, his hands falling flat to his side. Kei was forcing himself to look at him, trying not to look scared of what was gonna happen.   
Kei knew his friend wasn’t stupid, he knew what to do with this piece of information without Kei having to spell it out to him.   
  
Kei had no problem telling himself, that yes, he was murdering people while trying to solve said murders. But right now, those words just wouldn’t leave his mouth.

The thought of saying it out loud was like poison on Kei’s tongue. He felt paralysed and unable to stop. He didn’t want Akaashi to think bad of him. But 11 months ago, the first murder happened, the first victim was found, and Kei committed his first crime.

“No way..” Akaashi said softly, voice breaking over those two simple words.

“Kei please tell me you’re lying to me..”

Kei shook his head and Akaashi seemed unsure between slapping Kei, screaming or simply leaving. He wasn’t sure how to react.

“You.. nine lives.. Kei. You ended nine lives, for.. information? You are so- I don’t even have words for this! What the fuck? Why?! How the hell did you think killing someone was the way to solve anything! I would have helped you with the investigation, if you would have just _talked to us_! We are your friends too!”

Kei swallowed, shaking his head. “I know you are my friends. That’s why I didn’t tell you.. but Kuroo is the love of my life. I had to do something!”

“Was, Kei. He _was_ the love of your life. He’s dead, dammit! Why are you risking your career and your life for someone who’s not even around to fucking appreciate it!

“I can’t believe you are.. You killed people! You are part of a fucking gang! How do you want me to help out of that shit, Kei?! You are trying to solve your ow-... do you know how angry Kuroo would be!? How disappointed?”  
  
“You don’t know what I’m going through..”

That was when a fist connected with Kei’s face. The punch hit his cheek. The impact and the shock of being punched by his friend sent him tumbling against the wall. “What the..”

The next thing he knew was Akaashi holding him tightly, burying his face Kei’s chest. The man was obviously crying. Nonononono! No! Akaashi never cried. Never. Not even when things with Bokuto got rough!

“You should have come to me.. I could have helped you more efficiently,” Akaashi mumbled, rubbing gently over Kei’s back.

He talked like this path with no return Kei chose, was his fault. Akaashi was blaming himself for Kei’s poor decisions..

“Let me find a way to make it better.”

No. No! Kei wanted to scream, but no words were coming out still. He could only stand and listen to the gentle, almost inaudible sobs of his colleague. He knew Akaashi, he knew where his thoughts were heading. There was no way he’d let his friends fall down the same hole he did. This was his fight and no one else should fight it with or for him.

But he could feel Akaashi’s head shift, he could only guess he was looking at Kei’s file.

“Don’t..” Kei finally managed to say, Akaashi didn’t even do as much as flinch. Instead he let go of Kei, walking slowly over to the desk again.

Kei was too stiff to jump forward and shake his friend into sense. He would rather go to prison than drag any of his colleagues into this.

As soon as he made sure, Kei stayed where he was, Akaashi walked back to the desk and picked up the folder. He opened it, scanning the words written about his friend once more, like a book that was too interesting to put down, even though he had read it a dozen times already.

He wasn’t listening to any of Kei’s weak complaints. He had made up his mind and nothing could change it again. He wanted to help. He needed to help. He had failed his friend before, he wouldn’t do it again.  
He would only hope Bokuto would forgive him if he ever found out.

He closed the beige folder and dropped it in the shredder. The silent humming as the file disappeared was ringing in Kei’s ears. Please..

“Arrange a meeting with Oikawa in your apartment tonight. I need to know who I’m working with.”

  
  



	9. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here I am again, a little late!  
> Well guess who didn't have internet at all and also has the most annoying writer's block. I'm so sorry!  
> I hope you can enjoy this chapter anyway.
> 
> Comments, questions etc are very appreciated! <3

It ran shivers down Kei’s spine how calm and unaffected Akaashi worked for the rest of their day.  
He saw his friend talking with Bokuto before coming towards him.

“Alright, Koutarou thinks I’m with you for dinner and visiting Kuroo’s grave. Now let’s go before he asks to join us,” Akaashi explained calmly, heading straight for the elevator.

Kei wordlessly followed his friend.  
The ride home was done in utter silence. The radio turned off, Akaashi was staring out of the window, clearly thinking about what was going to happen. Kei could see the deep frown on his friend’s face, whenever he used a second to glance over to him.

Kei himself didn’t dare say anything. He knew he would yell at Akaashi for being an idiot. Who would do this? Kei knew he was being irresponsible, but he never thought he’d pull his friends into this too.  
Oikawa had promised to leave his friends out of this, before Kei agreed to the terms and joined. But now, it wasn’t Oikawa who had dragged them into this mess, it was Kei himself. And he hated himself for it.

Akaashi didn’t say a word as they parked, or when they walked up the stairs.

He didn’t even squint at the open door to Kei’s apartment. Kei did, a little. He hated people breaking in, it was so much effort to get the damage fixed he had done, but so far, it looked like one had simply picked the lock.

The TV was running, a movie or something, Kei couldn’t be sure, but it was loud at least.  
He slowly walked into the hallway, looking into the kitchen to find two steaming mugs of what smelled like tea.   
Oikawa’s drinks were obvious, since the amount of sugar would give you diabetes just smelling it, but this was simple tea.  
He stepped into his kitchen, looking around, who the hell would make tea for him?

“Don’t look so suspicious Kei, just take the damn mug and sit with us.”  
  
No.. not them. He knew that voice, that tone. He could practically hear the smirk  
Kei turned to Hanamaki.

“I thought I called Oikawa to come over, not you,” Kei answered, annoyed. He narrowed his eyes at the strawberry blond man.  
  
“Well, Boss’s busy. Visiting an old friend or something. You gotta deal with us, my friend.”

Hanamaki turned to Akaashi, grinning. “You’re pretty. What’s your name?”  
  
Akaashi simply stared at him and turned. He walked into the living room to sit down. Kei followed with the two cups of tea.

In the living room, he found Matsukawa, chilling relaxed on his armchair, legs thrown over the side.  
  
“Kei! I didn’t hear you come in, you’re like a ninja.”

Kei rolled his eyes at him.

“And who’s the pretty boy over there?”  
  
“My next boyfriend,” Hanamaki chirped in, smirking.

“I’m taken;” Akaashi responded calmly, but Kei realised the strong grip he had on the couch cushion, indicating string discomfort.

“So am I sometimes,” Hanamaki winked and Kei cleared his throat.

“We’re not here for a new hook up, that’s my partner Akaashi Keiji. He found my file at work.. And he would like to join us.”  
  
Matsukawa frowned. “More police? You think we’re stupid, or something? We don’t accept spys.”

“I’m not a spy, Sir. I’m a professional police officer and I would like to keep an eye on Tsukishima and all the stupid things he is doing. I already got rid of the evidence against him.”

Kei bit his lip, watching his friend. He still didn’t understand why Akaashi was doing this. It would only cause him even more pain than what Kei had inflicted on him unknowingly.

Matsukawa smirked, sitting down properly. He folded his hands over his legs and leaned forward.  
Like this he could be mistaken than the original leader of the gang. Kei was sure it had happened a few times already. Hanamaki and Matsukawa were radiating a strange energy, that always left Kei with goose bumps whenever they got serious.

The atmosphere shifted quickly into a thick, calculating one. Kei almost couldn’t breathe.

“No spy, huh? Then I have the perfect job for you, to prove your loyalty to us.”

Akaashi nodded firmly. “Anything.”

“A few weeks ago, one of our members got up and left, with no word, no reason. He knows stuff about our organisation, that we cannot have running around freely like that. We already tried to negotiate with him, but he wouldn’t comply. He refused to hand over all the information he has on us as well, though. He didn’t answer to any threats. The Boss is now scared that he will use the information he has against us, so he wants him and his workplace off the radar. You know, to get our point across.”

Hanamaki grinned, sitting on the side of the armchair next to Matsukawa.

“He works somewhere you know. I’m sure you have heard of it. A small bakery across your station. And the name is Hinata Shouyou.”

Kei swallowed thickly. He had never had to kill someone he knew. Sure he doesn’t know this Hinata kid, but the bakery itself and he knew for a fact that their chief was personally involved with one of the employees. Romantically or platonically didn’t matter to him in the slightest, but he knew Chief Sawamura would take over that particular case himself if Akaashi were to agree.

“I’ll do it.”  
  
Kei had never wanted to slap his friend so hard in his life like in this single moment.

But he held himself back.

“Good,” Matsukawa smirked. “The Boss wants it done by next month. You have three weeks preparation time. Use it wisely.”

Matsukawa lifted himself off the armchair, pulling Hanamaki along with him as he walked out.  
  
“It’ll be a pleasure working with you, Akaashi Keiji.” The tall black haired man said, before walking out of the apartment, closing the door loudly behind himself and his friend. .”

 

~~~

 

Akaashi took Matsukawa’s advice to heart. He took the three weeks to plan the bombing of the small bakery across their station.

In the first one, Akaashi went to the bakery almost everyday, checking their schedule, when Hinata worked, when he was alone, when innocent, uninvolved people were at the bakery.  
He did all of that under the cover of spoiling his boyfriend. Because Bokuto had to stay home alone quite some time, for two weeks.

Every night for two weeks Akaashi went home with Kei.  
They did lots of research on several bombs, which were the easiest to make, their burn radius. They needed something that would definitely kill Hinata and destroy the bakery enough to satisfy Oikawa. Until they were finally able to start building the damned thing. Kei wasn’t really the best with minimalistic work, but Akaashi was. The guy spend time in the army, enable and defusing bombs was his daily bread.

One day, in the second week, Kei was deeply into trying to connect the wires to the car battery they were using, as Akaashi asked a very important question. Probably the most important question of them all.

“What does it feel like? To kill someone?”

The question sounded more innocent than the content of it actually was.   
He knew, he shook have seen it coming, should have been confused why it didn’t come earlier. But in reality he was taken off guard by this question, that he almost dropped what he was holding.  
He looked up at his friends.

Akaashi was sitting calmly at the kitchen table, over an open phone, connecting cables to the battery and all kinds of stuff Kei didn’t understand. They would use it as a trigger and he needed to connect it to the bomb or something.

His friend didn’t even look up to meet Kei’s eyes, continuing to work on his task.

It took a few dreadful seconds before Kei regained the ability to speak. Apparently he got into some awkward silences if he didn’t expect something.

“Killing someone..? Well you might feel guilty for taking another’s life,” he tried to explain rationally.

Akaashi frowned, still not meeting his eyes.

“Is that what you feel?”

“Well... not anymore.”

That gained Akaashi’s full attention and he put his screwdriver down, taking off the pair of magnifying glasses.

“Then what do you feel?”

Kei swallowed, looking at his hands.

“It feels. Strange. Not in a bad way anymore. I felt guilty. I became the person I promised to protect this city from. But the feeling disappeared eventually, I guess. Now it’s just.. a rush of power.”

He got off his chair quickly, starting to pace.

“I feel like a fucking addict! You don’t understand how much adrenaline and power you feel looking someone in the eyes -” Kei walked to Akaashi “ -holding your gun against their head-" he held his fingers, curled to finger guns, up to Akaashi’s head "-and hear them beg for their small pathetic lives. Hearing them beg for you to stop, until you just pull the trigger, shooting them and having them die by your hands.”

He eventually put his hands down again.  
Kei looked at Akaashi, who looked shocked, though not disgusted. He frowned deeply as if processing what he had heard.  
Kei couldn’t bear to see what Akaashi was thinking and left the kitchen quickly, locking himself in his bedroom for the rest of the night.

When Kei came out the next morning, Akaashi was gone. At work everything seemed normal. The two never talked about it again and Kei was glad for it.

The third week was used for Akaashi to plan how to execute his plan. But he didn’t do this at Kei’s anymore, luckily. That might have been better for all their peace of minds.

They had to ensure Bokuto in a really heated encounter that they were not cheating on him and that Akaashi would never do this to him.

Akaashi might actually catch some sleep and Kei wouldn’t have to deal with a full apartment when all he wanted was some alone time to himself and his files he had gotten for his last successful mission before this entire drama started.

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter will be a little more.. explosive :3  
> I am so sorry it's so short again, but I'm trying my best to not make the chapters too long for my own orientation and to not overwrite unnecessary information.  
> Anyway, I'm trying to make them a little longer again, bare with me a little guys, please <3


	10. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back and in time, whooh!
> 
> Today a little more action, I hope you guys like it!  
> I tried not to get away too much.
> 
> Comments, questions are always welcome <3

“Ready?”  
  
_“Now or never.”_

  


It was the end september, the days and nights were starting to get chilly now. Kei had taken on putting on old hoodies of his dead boyfriend. He had never cleared out Kuroo’s stuff, refusing to give anything to his family when they asked for it.

Thursday night, the end of september and Kei was sitting in the back of a van, wearing the old university hoodie from Kuroo, headphones on his head, covering his ears, eyes bound to security cameras Kenma had hacked, so they could keep an eye on the bakery.

The dyed blond was sitting next to him, also wearing headphones, but he was typing away on his phone. He was in a better and calmer state than Kei was.

Akaashi had insisted to do the entire mission by himself, without any outside help. Kei had made him agree to at least being able to stay in contact with him, when he planted the small pocket bombs.   
They went with much smaller bombs than they intentioned, but it was easier to plant and carry them. They had five of them, all activated by a single phone call, when Akaashi decided it was time.

Hinata Shouyou was the last one that evening, having to lock the bakery.  
Akaashi knew that of course. He had studied the plans as closely as possible.

**_“I’m sorry, but we’re closed.”_ **

The new unfamiliar voice rang through the headphones Kei was wearing. He sounded so young, his age, maybe even younger…

_“Oh, I’m sorry! I just saw light and had hoped that maybe I can get some cake for my partner and me, you know as an end of the shift treat.”_

Akaashi was nervous, he was babbling and Akaashi never babbled. He was always very quiet, talking when needed and when he felt like he had something good to bring to the conversation. And Kei understood, but Akaashi needed to get his shit together, or he would mess this up.

“Calm down, Keiji, you've got this…” Kei tried to be the grounding voice Akaashi desperately needed, he heard his friend inhale deeply. He really hoped it helped.

_“_ **_You’re a police officer, right? You wouldn’t know a Kageyama Tobio, would you?”_ **

_“I do, indeed know him. I work with him.”_

Kei took a deep breath and leaned back against his chair in the van. Akaashi’s voice had calmed down and got its usual indifferent tone back.

**_“That’s great! Can you get him something from me, please? I will get you some cake and coffee too, for you and your partner!”  
_ **

There was no verbal answer, but some very loud footsteps, so Kei assumed Akaashi had nodded in agreement.

“Shit, shit, shit..”   
  
Akaashi was mumbling to himself, and breathing more heavily. Kei couldn’t see what was going on, it made him anxious. Akaashi had to follow the plan, or everything they did, all the work they put into this mission would have been in vain.

There for a while, there was nothing. No more words from Akaashi, just steady breathing, calmer breathing. Kei could only hope his partner didn’t leave..

**_“Here, I made a cake, he wanted to try a piece-... what are you doing?”_ **

Kei jumped up, and looked at the security cameras. He looked desperately at the screen, needing to see what was going on, what Hinata had seen, but he couldn’t see anything.  
He could only listen to Akaashi’s stammering, his incohesive rambling about having dropped something.   
  
Shit...  
  
“Take him out. Keiji, you have to take him out now.”

This wasn’t a demand, or an order. It was a plea, Kei was begging him to do it, if Akaashi wanted to live, he needed to do it now.

Hinata wasn’t stupid, he most likely had a gun with him too.

“AKAASHI! NOW!”

He heard the cocking of a gun, Kei held his breath.

**_“You’re with him, aren’t you? WIth Oikawa.”_ **

_“You’re wrong.”_

There was a chuckle and Kei shivered.

**_“Am I? You might not be with him willingly, but you are now part of this mess. Part of whatever he wants you to be part of. Whatever your reasons for joining were, they don’t matter to me, but you… you are now a puppet. You left your life behind, for the scum of this world. I’m better off dead, and believe me, so are you.”_ **

There was a shot. And another one. And another one. Kei could barely hold himself together. It felt like losing Kuroo all over again. He was unable to move, to react. Akaashi couldn’t be dead. He just couldn’t be! Kei would never forgive himself.. “Nonono, Akaashi, please be okay..”

_“Stomach, heart, head…”_

“Akaashi! Keiji, you’re okay...”  Kei said quickly let out several deep breaths.

_“Yeah, I’m okay, but your way of killing is really disgusting, Kei..”_   
  
It was stupid, it was such a stupid thing to say, but Kei could only laugh. He was alright! Akaashi was really alright. God, he wanted to topple and vomit and maybe cry. He had never felt this tense in his life. It felt like losing the love of his life all over again… He wasn't sure if he could take losing another one. That would have been horrible, and Kei was sure he wouldn’t have survived the heartache again.

_“Just the last one, then I’ll be out.”_

Kei simply nodded, biting his lip. He wasn’t sure what else he should say right now. There were so many things in his head, but he wasn’t able to express them the right. Kuroo always did the emotional stuff..

He was freed from answering when Kenma tapped his shoulder from the side. The guy had been there all the time, but didn’t say a word. Not one.. Kei had almost forgotten he was even there. But now Kenma was holding Kei’s phone, offering it to him.

“You’ve got a call. It’s the third time, maybe you should take it..”  
  
Kei nodded. Yamaguchi was calling him, why? They hadn’t spoken since he found out about Kei still working on Kuroo’s case.

“Tsukishima Kei?” He answered the phone formally.

“Tsukki… Hey, it’s me.” The poor guy, Kei wanted to tell him it was alright and there was nothing between them anymore. He hated how scared Yamaguchi sounded.

“Yeah, I know. What do you want, Yamaguchi.”  
  
There was a deep breath on the other side, Kei waited patiently.   
  
“Yachi and I.. we wanted to meet with you. We have some big news and we wanted-”

“Now is not the time. I’m really busy at the moment.”  
  
“But Tsukki, it’s just a coffee, or even dinner, we-”  
  
But Kei cut him off again, he couldn’t meet Yamaguchi right now. Not when he was getting closer and closer to finding his fiancé’s murderer!

“I said, I can’t. Maybe when I’m done with this job. Dunno how long that’ll take, but it’s important, not that you would-”

This time Kei was being interrupted, stunning him more than the news itself.  
  
“Kei, Yachi is pregnant!”

There was a long pause at both lines, Kei not sure what to say.  
How was he to express his happiness?   
Yamaguchi had always wanted to be a dad, and now that dream was becoming reality…

He was so happy for them, he really was. But he also knew how fucked up this world was. He had told Kuroo back then, that he wouldn’t want to bring a child on to this messed up planet.

After Yamaguchi understood that Kei wouldn’t say anything, he continued:   
  
“Yachi is pregnant. She is for a while now, but we wanted to make sure that the baby will make it into the second trimester, before we told anyone. Anyway, we.. we both wanted you as the godfather.”   
  
“Godfather..?” They couldn’t be serious.

“Yeah. I know we fought and this is a bit much after we didn’t talk for so long, but I don’t want anyone but you to be the godfather for my child..”  
  
_“Tsukishima, I’m gone now. I’ll fire the bombs.”_

Akaashi’s voice was cutting into the conversation over his other ear. It brought Kei back into the situation he was currently in. It reminded him why he didn’t want children. Because of people like himself, he couldn’t be godfather to Yamaguchi’s.

“Look, I’m really busy. I’ll call you tomorrow morning, before I head into the office. And we’ll make up a time to meet and talk about this,” Kei said quickly and ended the call with Yamaguchi before his best friend could answer.

Which was for the best, because in the very next second, the security cameras of the bakery stopped looping the picture of before Akaashi entered and left and Kei could see the end of the explosion and the small building burning.

It looked like a mess, smoke rising high and thick above. No doubt people will see it quickly, if the firefighters hadn’t been contacted already.

The back of the Van opened and Akaashi stumbled inside, shaken by what he had to do.

Kei immediately got up, untangled himself from all the cables and hugged his friend tightly.

Akaashi would never be the same now. He had killed someone. He had proven himself worthy to Oikawa and his assistances. Now it was on Kei, to make sure Akaashi would recover from it. He nodded into Kenma’s direction and the small guy knocked on the wall connecting to the front of the van.   
  
They closed the back doors and the van started driving, heading home..


	11. Chapter 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so so so so so sorry!  
> I know I promised to be back after two weeks, but hell this writer's block really got to me. Every time I sat down to write, nothing would come to my head and all the sentences I produced were horrible!   
> I'm a perfectionist, I woudn't ever upload something I'm not satisfied with..  
> This chapter is also a lot shorter, but I didn't want to leave you guys waiting even more..  
> And I don't think I can get this chapter to be any better anyway.. Not that I am satisfied with it, but this was the 6th attempt, so I'll leave it for now.  
> I'm so sorry, guys. I hope you can forgive me!  
> I will hopefully return to my regular schedule now..
> 
> If you guys still have request for OneShots related to this story, let me know!  
> I'm in the mood of something short, some background knowledge that can't be given by Kei!  
> Thanks already, and again, I am so so sorry!
> 
> Now, have fun though!

Kei awkwardly sat in the booth of a small coffee shop.

He was away from his neighbourhood, unfamiliar with the faces around him. The barista that had served his coffee was very young, probably still in highschool and she seemed rather awkward around him. Kei was wondering if he was intimidating her. 

Maybe the batch attached on his belt scared her off. Maybe she thought he was here to make sure this place was alright. After all the news of the small bakery being attacked got around really quickly. The next morning everyone was already writing about it. Made up information, of course, the police refused to answer any questions about the case, no details being revealed. 

But maybe she was just intimidated by tall guys. It wasn’t like he smiled a lot either. Yeah, that was probably it, in combination of the other two. 

Kei had his eyes cast down, to his coffee. He had been stirring the brown liquid for almost 15 minutes now. It sure wasn’t hot anymore. He wasn’t even sure if it was warm.

He was waiting for Yamaguchi and Yachi to finally join him. They were already four minutes late and Kei began to nervously tap his left foot.    
Yamaguchi should know how much he hated waiting in strange places.

The bell rang on the door and for the eighth time in the last ten minutes, Kei looked up to see if he knew the person coming in. And sure enough, his best friend and his wife finally joined him in the shop.

Yamaguchi looked around until Yachi tugged on his sleeve and pointed into Kei’s direction. Kei looked down again, not wanting to seem desperate or something like that. He hadn’t seen Yamaguchi in weeks, no word exchanged between the two. No phone call or message. Nothing. He didn’t like the silence between them, but his stupid pride wouldn’t allow him to take the first step…

“Tsukki..” Yamaguchi said softly. They were standing in front of Kei’s table.   
  
Kei glanced up at his friends.    
Yachi was wearing a dress despite the weather, holding her slightly grown stomach. Yamaguchi had one hand on a chair, probably about to pull it out for his wife, unless Kei would object. Which he wouldn't do. If he hadn’t wanted to see them, he wouldn’t have come.

“You can sit down,” Kei mumbled, lifting his head properly to look at the two.

Yachi flashed Kei a brilliant smile before accepting Yamaguchi’s pulled out chair.   
  
“It’s been so long since we have last seen each other, Kei!” She said excitedly.    
“I’m so glad you could make it.”

Kei cleared his throat three times, before he was able to form a coherent sentence, that wasn’t anything stupid or mean and fit their situation.

“Congratulations on the baby, I’m glad it finally worked out for you two. Though I have to decline your wish to make me the godparent. I am not a fit choice for that job. I hate children.”  
  
Yamaguchi stared at his best friend, shaking his head. He was opening his mouth to protest, but Yachi broke into giggles, cutting him off.

“You’re a silly one, Kei. Of course you’re fit for this job. And you wouldn't be alone with it, of course. We just want someone trustworthy, and who is a better fit than a big strong police officer and best friend?”

“I really don’t think, I should-”   
  
“I don’t want anyone else for that job but you, Tsukki,” Yamaguchi interrupted Kei, “there is no one so…  _ dedicated _ .”

Yamaguchi chose the last word with care, biting his lip slightly as he tried to keep eye contact.

It always impressed Kei when he did. He wasn’t the same as when they were children, Kei knew that, but he tended to forget about those massive developments sometimes.

“We both know my dedication is why I’m unqualified for this,” Kei argued softly.

“You still have a few months to change your mind. I know I’ll keep asking.”

Kei gave a small amused smile. He shouldn’t have underestimated his best friend’s decision like this…

“Okay! Enough of this really boring argument,” Yachi waved her hand between them all.

“I wanna know what is going on in your life at the moment. How is work going? I have heard about the bakery, any idea what has happened?”

Yachi has always been curious about Kei’s work. A little too curious for her own good.

She had taken the physical test to become a police officer, but failed badly.   
She then decided that maybe it wasn’t for her and became a nursery teacher instead.   
She always said that if she can’t solve crimes, maybe she was able to prevent them with proper, early education and dedication. Yachi wanted to teach with love and patience. Maybe that was the key to prevent crimes, Kei wasn’t sure.

“I.. we don’t know. The investigation is still ongoing, and I’m not really allowed to talk about this.” 

“You think it might be a gang activity?”   
  
Kei frowned. “What?”

“I know around that area are a lot of gangs and mafias active. I was wondering if maybe it was an act of revenge?”   
  
The blond narrowed his eyes. Why would she come to such a conclusion? No details were made public yet, no real information. Nothing that he read in the papers would suggest the involvement of a mafia.

And besides who would connect a bombed bakery straight with an act of revenge or gangs in general?   
  
“Why would you think such a thing?”

“Just something silly I read in the newspapers,” she smiled and shrugged, “I had hoped you could confirm or deny that rumour.” 

Kei shook his head.

“You know what, I need more coffee,” he mumbled and got up from the table.

He was just going crazy. The lack of sleep, the constant texts of Akaashi and now the information of his friends becoming parents was getting to his head and he couldn’t think straight anymore. 

He took three deep breaths, before he ordered another cup of coffee at the register.    
A nice young man was serving him and at least that guy didn’t seem to be scared of him.  Whatever the man was saying went over Kei’s head though, he was too deep in his own thoughts. 

A light tap on his shoulder made him jump and look up though. Yachi smiled up at him.   
  
“I’m so sorry to cut this short! My boss just called, it’s apparently an emergency. But Tadashi wanted me to say goodbye before leaving.”   
  
Kei just nodded.   
  
“It’s fine, don’t work too hard though. But I’m sure Yamaguchi told you already.”

She chuckled softly and gave him a sideways hug.  She let go quickly though, knowing Kei wasn’t too fond of hugs or physical contact. She waved goodbye and Kei turned away.  He heard her say goodbye to Yamaguchi and her answering her phone again, before the voice disappeared with the second ring of the bell attached at the door.

Only when he got his coffee served, realized Kei that today was Saturday...

 


	12. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, I know I'm not regular.. I'm sorry..  
> Anyway, lots of action. It's very fast paced this chapter, but it's supposed to be!
> 
> I hope you enjoy it!

“Tsukishima! Akaashi! I have been waiting for you.”

Kei stopped dead in his tracks. No. Why? They were supposed to be alone. This was planned! Hanamaki and Matsukawa had made sure that the building is clear, Kenma said there was nothing unusual going on!   
  
So where was his subject? Where was  Tanji Washijō ? Who was that red-haired guy?!

“Who are you?”

Cackling fell through the room, making Kei freeze up uncomfortably. What was going on here?!

The guy opposite Akaashi and himself pulled out a gun, happily pointing it at Kei. He licked over his lips and smirked. A cold shiver ran through the tall blond man at that. He looked too confident, too happy, it made Kei sick.

“Who am I? I, Tsukishima Kei, am your worst nightmare.”

Being shot felt different than Kei remembered.. Instead of everything turning black, it was like the last week flashed before his eyes.

 

~~~ 1 week earlier ~~~

 

It has been almost a month, since Kei had met up with Yamaguchi and Yachi. He had asked about Yachi’s job, but Yamaguchi simply waved him off, saying that it had always been like that. Yachi’s boss was very demanding and sometimes called for meetings over the weekends too. Since Yachi would go into her merterinity year soon, she wanted to do her best to appease her boss as long as she still could. She loved her job dearly and would do anything to keep it.

Yamaguchi made good on his promise on asking Kei over and over again about the godfather thing. Ever since the meeting, Yamaguchi apparently thought they had made up and called and texted Kei on a regular basis again.

Sometimes he would show up in his apartment again, and Kei couldn’t deny that it gave a nice feeling of familiarity. Something normal back in his life.  
They had both agreed to never talk about Kei’s obsession with Kuroo’s case again and pretended as if he wasn’t still working on it despite all the troubles it had caused their friendship.

One day, when Kei arrived at home after a long day at work, he saw the lights turned on in his apartment and called out. “Yamaguchi? You didn’t tell me you were coming today.”  


But there was no answer, making Kei frown deeply. “Yamaguchi?” He called again, but still no answer.

Kei pulled out the gun from its holder on his belt as he slowly sneaked through his apartment. Why was he used to people entering his home without permission? He needed to change the lock and update the security system on his door.

The kitchen and living room were empty. Kei frowned deeper and walked slowly up to his bedroom, kicking the door open and holding up his gun.

“Oikawa?!” He snapped and dropped his hands.

Oikawa Tooru was in his bedroom and Kei had a very bad deja-vu. 

“Kei-chan! You are home~!”

Kei put his gun back into its holder and glared at his boss.   
  
“The fuck are you doing here?” 

Oikawa, didn’t look at him, he was holding a picture in his hands, and if Kei wouldn't know better, he would almost say he looked melancholic. 

Kei frowned even more, he was sure if he kept that up, it would stay eventually. 

“I asked-”   
  
“Oh, I heard you loud and clear, Kei-chan,” Oikawa interrupted rudely, but with his signature grin. 

“I was waiting for you, but you took so long! So I decided to look around your apartment. You don’t own a lot of things, Kei-chan, do you? But then I found your wall again and I saw who you put up here and I was curious.”  
  
Kei looked at his wall and sure enough the picture of Iwaizumi was missing from it’s spot next to Oikawa’s.

Oikawa was holding the picture gently and when his eyes darted down he got that gloomy look back. It made Kei uneasy. He had never been good at reading Oikawa, and this was a whole new level of weird.    
  
He looked so soft, but at the same time angry and determined.    
Oikawa turned around and pinned Iwaizumi’s picture back into its place. He grinned at Kei.    
  
“He is one of the good ones. Always fighting for the right thing,” Oikawa mumbled to himself and Kei couldn’t even be sure that he heard him correctly. But it didn’t matter, because his boss turned around and walked right out of his bedroom again.    
  
Kei knew there was no way he would get anything regarding that topic out of Oikawa, so he didn’t even try to get him to talk. But Kei didn’t really care about the past of his boss anyway.

Though a tiny spark of curiosity was there.

Oikawa was in the living room, sitting comfortably on Kei’s couch, one leg resting over the other knee.

“I have a job for you and Keiji-chan.”  
  
Kei didn’t sit down, standing in front of Oikawa, waiting for an explanation.

“It’s a very important job. Longer than all the ones you did before. I don’t need you to kill one person, Kei-chan. I need you two to kill five.”   
  
“What’s my price?”

Oikawa smirked. “Revenge.”

 

~~~

 

The job was simple. They would get a week to kill all five suspects. Tanji Washijo, Takeda Ittetsu, Manabu Naoi, Sadayuki Mizoguchi and Nobuteru Irihata.

Kei didn’t ask what they did to make Oikawa hat them. But he had meant to. He never had to kill more than one person in the same week. And Oikawa seemed like it was urgent and important.    
What connected those people? Why were they a threat?

None of the questions would be answered, Kei decided and tried to ignore it.    
  
He had called Akaashi almost the instant Oikawa left.

“You don’t have to join this mission, if you don’t want to,” Kei had tried to assure his friend and colleague. He knew Akaashi had nightmares from the night in the bakery. He knew his friend wasn’t seeking any help either. He wanted to seem strong and Kei would let him.  
  
_ “No. Count me in.” _

Akaashi and him went over the names and locations, setting up a plan on who to take out first and when. As much as Kei hated saying it but Hanamaki and Matsukawa were rather helpful this time around with their inside information on the firms’ working schedules. 

Monday night, 11 pm: Nobuteru Irihata  
Tuesday: no one  
Wednesday night, 11:30pm: Manabu Naoi  
Thursday late night, 1am: Tanji Washijo  
Friday early morning, 4am: Sadayuki Mizoguchi   
Saturday: no one  
Sunday evening, 7pm: Takeda Ittetsu

They went over that schedule again and again, comparing it to the firms’ schedules as many times as they could until they were positive that it would work out.

No one else but the CEOs were present at those times, it was perfect, almost foolproof.   
Almost.

They had gotten through Monday to Wednesday without any issues. Two out of five were dead by the time Bokuto, Akaashi and Kei were called to the newest crime scene. 

“Two in one week.. that’s unusual,” Akaashi had commented.  
  
“You think we can expect more now?” Bokuto had asked, biting his lip.

“Maybe..”

 

They brought all their stuff to the station, filling in Iwaizumi on their findings.

Ever since the talk with Oikawa in his apartment, Kei became more and more curious about his co-worker. Why was Oikawa so fascinated with his picture? He knew someone was after him, did he know it was Iwaizumi? Did he see this as a challenge, defeating the Police Officer? Mocking him by knowing his face and his name?

He needed to get this out of his head! It was distracting him. 

They arrived at the station and Kei made his way to the gym, to retreat Iwaizumi. The man was always working out when he wasn’t actively working on a job and since he wasn’t at the crime scene as well, Kei had figured he would be in their gym.    
What he found there was nothing what he expected though.

He did find Iwaizumi working out, sure, back turned to Kei, in a tank top. Not that Kei normally paid attention to trivial things like the clothes of his co-workers, but this time it was an important detail.

On Iwaizumi’s left shoulder was a tattoo. Again, not that Kei cared about such things, but he knew the symbol. He knew the symbol so well, he was sure he could draw it in his sleep.

It was…. It was Oikawa’s crown. 

“Oh, Tsukishima, I didn’t hear you come in,” Iwaizumi greeted kindly as he wrapped a towel around his shoulders, after wiping his forehead with it. 

“I came to get you. We have a few things we’d like you to take a look at..”

Iwaizumi nodded. “Of course, I’ll be there in a minute. Thank you Tsukishima.”

 

He didn’t remember much after that short conversation. He didn’t know what they all talked about, he didn’t remember being dismissed or even arriving home with Akaashi. He didn’t remember anything of that afternoon, it was all like a terrible dream. What did that tattoo mean? Was it a coincidence? An obsession?

Kei couldn’t come up with anything that could explain this, even though he was sure the answer was right in front of him. But Kei had never paid attention to things he didn’t care about, and now he had to pay for his ignorance.

 

~~~

 

The next thing Kei can remember were many voices hushing and a hand squeezing his tightly. His chest was aching badly and he couldn’t move or open his eyes. He didn’t know where he was or what was going on...

“-know anything about the shooter?” A voice close to Kei asked, the hand holding his own shaking slightly.

“The shooters name is Tendou Satori. He is one from Shiratorizawa,” a soft voice explained. 

“Shira- Why was he there? I thought you had made sure the building was empty!” The close voice sounded angry, squeezing Kei’s hand even tighter.

“We did! But we must have made a mistake-”    
  
“Obviously!”

“Oi, quit yelling. It was a mistake, but Tsukishima is alive, isn’t he? And you still have a job to do. You cannot sulk around here.” Kei couldn’t tell who was talking, but his hand was out down gently and he heard a chair moving. The warm presence gone.

“Fuck!” The voice called, before the door was shut loudly. But the insult sounded wrong coming with that voice, like they weren’t used to talking so loud and full of emotions..

  
But before Kei could wonder about the person even more, he drifted back off to sleep..


	13. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya, it's me again!  
> I am really glad no one seemed angry at me for skipping some uploads. I still enjoy writing this, but urgh, sometimes motivation is hard.  
> Anyway, here is another upload.  
> We're getting into the finals.   
> I assume that we'll get maybe three more chapters out of this. But not more, so have fun :3

His body felt heavy. He could barely move. Where was he anyway? This wasn’t his bed. It was too hard to be his bed. Kuroo knew he prefered soft mattresses! The size wasn’t right either. He could feel the edge of the bed with his pinky, he usually slept in the middle of his big double bed. Everything felt off. This was so wrong! Where was he?! 

When Kei finally managed to blink his eyes open, he immediately squeezed them shut again. The light was so damn bright… 

He let out a groan, which apparently was the right thing to do? Because he heard footsteps, gentle but rushed. His hand was picked up and squeezed.    
  
“Kei? Kei, you’re awake! Yaku!”

Kei had troubles putting the voice to a person, it sounded vaguely like Akaashi, but it was too loud, too excited. And way too strained.

Kei blinked his eyes open to look at Akaashi. It was in fact his colleague and friend. But he had dark circles under his bloodshot eyes. He looked pale, as if he hadn’t slept or eaten in forever.   
And why was he calling for- oh…

Yaku entered the room, smiling a little, a tall man tailed behind him. Lev…

“Good you’re awake. Took you long enough.” 

“Where am I..?” Kei asked, already annoyed. He couldn’t stand those two. Especially Lev was too loud. He guessed he could deal with Yaku alone, but in combination they were the worst.

“You’re in my home, before you can complain about any kind of comfort. We didn’t have to take you in. We only did because Oikawa had asked so nicely,” Yaku explained, and Kei swore he saw a vein on Yaku’s head pulse in anger.

“Apparently your safety is important to that asshole. So whatever you know, must be dangerous. I just want you out of here as soon as possible.”   
  
“Thank you..” Kei said with clenched teeth. 

Akaashi was still holding his hand, smiling softly.

" You have been for almost 4 days,” he told Kei, squeezing his hand softly.   
“I was so worried.”

Kei swallowed. “4 days? What about the other-”   


Akaashi shook his head. “I-I... I took care of those, don’t worry. I will do the last one tonight, Oikawa allowed it. And Chief Sawamura thinks you’re sick at home.”    


Kei looked at his friend, looking so tired and exhausted. His voice so small yet so loud. 

“You look like you didn’t get any sleep.”

Akaashi laughed softly and shook his head.    
“Don’t worry about me. I can handle myself pretty well.”

There was more. Kei knew there was more. There had to be more! Akaashi was here instead of at work or at home, he looked so tired, like he didn’t have proper sleep for days.   
Before Kei could voice his concerns, Akaashi spoke again.

“It’s okay, you really don’t have to worry. Koutarou and I had a fight, but that’s all. He wasn’t happy with the amount of time I was spending with you, he thought I have been avoiding him. I almost told him everything right then and there..”

“Akaashi-”   
  
“Stop. I don’t need pity. We’ll figure it out. Or not. What’s important right now, is that you get back to your feet. You cannot stay here forever. And if I know you right, you don’t want to either.”

Kei sighed and fidgeted with his hands. No he did not want to stay here. He wanted to help Akaashi with the last mission, with that last fucking job. But he had failed and now he had to get better again. Fuck..

“Don’t pressure him, will you? He just woke up. And the boss wants to talk to him later,” Yaku butted back into the conversation, as he checked Kei’s IV. Fuck, it must have been bad, Yaku looked exhausted as well. He had caused so much trouble to everyone around him… 

“Oi, will you quit that stupid look? No one needs you feeling guilty. Just make sure it doesn’t happen again.” 

Kei puffed out some air, it was all too much to take in. It was like his brain couldn’t keep up with the amount of information it was getting. And Oikawa wanted to talk to him today as well? God fucking dammit, this must be the worst day ever. Kei could already feel the headache coming that came with his boss’s voice and stupid demands.

But then Kei remembered a question that was suddenly burning on his tongue. Who shot at him? How did they know Akaashi and he would be coming? Why didn’t they shoot at Akaashi? Could Kenma find them? Could they lead Kei to the one person he was looking for? But more questions squeezed themselve into his head. How did Oikawa know Iwaizumi? And why did his collegue have the same tattoo as his boss on the other end of the chase?   
He suddenly couldn’t wait to get those answers. He started to clench and unclench his fists. God he needed those answers.

The excitement was apparently noticeable because Yaku looked at him with a stern look.    
  
“Could you stay calm for once? Your heart rate shoots up and down all the time and that is very concerning for me. Keep it easy, man.”

Kei bit his lip and turned away from the nurse.  
Yaku sighed and shook his head.   
“I’ll leave you alone here. Akaashi probably has somewhere to be too.” 

Kei turned to Akaashi, who instantly took his hand and gave it a squeeze.    
“I’ll come by after Oikawa has left, okay? Just text me and I’ll be here.” 

Kei looked at their hands and watched as Akaashi gently put it back down. It was a weird sight and Kei couldn’t really wrap his head around what he had seen. Of course he knew that Akaashi seemed to be quite the physical person with Bokuto. His friends both weren’t to good with words. 

But Kei tried not to put too much thought into it, because there was no reason for him to exhaust himself with unnecessary thoughts. He felt like his ability to grab normal thoughts was out of order at the moment. So Kei decided to take a nap, maybe he could have clear thoughts again when he woke up. 

 

~~~

 

“Oikawa! He is still asleep. As his nurse, I cannot let you in there now!”

Kei heard the voice far away, probably still in the living room, if he had the outline of the apartment correctly in mind.   
But the voice were getting louder, accompanied by footsteps. One pair heavy and loud, the other one rather soft.    


“I can just wake him up! He should be fine. It’s just a conversation~!” Oikawa sang. It sounded like he was already infront of his door. 

Judging by the door that opened, it seemed like Oikawa ignored Yaku’s constant wishes to leave Kei alone.   
  
“Oikawa, honestly-”   
  
“Oh! Kei-chan, you’re awake. How convenient.”   


Before Kei could say anything, Oikawa closed the door right in Yaku’s face with a smile and a wave.

Kei sat up in his bed, staring at his boss.

“You should listen to Yaku more. He might quit.”   
  
Oikawa chuckled to himself and shook his head. He sat down on the chair that had been occupied by Akaashi earlier.

“Not as long as I pay his bills,” he smiled innocently, but nothing about him was truly innocent.

Oikawa had it all planned out in his head, each and every one of his subordinates were held in his organization by something. Whether it was pure loyalty to Oikawa or blackmailing from the boss didn’t matter to Oikawa. 

He just needed his chess pieces to win the game. What game, Kei didn’t know, and it scared him enough not to ask.

“I am sure you wonder who the man was who shot you,” Oikawa started, a serious face instead of his usual bright smile.

“His name is Tendou Satori. He is something like Ushijima’s right hand man. One of Shiratorizawa’s most important members. And before you ask, Kenma is already tracking him down, so we can question him.”

Kei did not want to know Oikawa’s questioning techniques, but he nodded.   
  
“I want to talk to him.”   
  
“No.”

“That wasn’t a question, Oikawa. He knew me and Akaashi, I need to know what else he knows. If he knows Kuroo’s killer, I gotta know.”

Oikawa shook his head and picked up a folder with Yaku’s handwriting on it. It was probably everything Yaku kept on Kei’s health. A patient folder.

“All of you honestly need to be taught some respect. But okay. If we find him, you may talk to him. You only get three minutes though.”

Kei nodded. He could work with three minutes. Sometimes he had even less at the police station. He was kicked out far too often.

“While we’re on the subject of Akaashi-”   
  
But Kei couldn’t talk about his friend right now, not when he had so many other questions!    
  
“How do you know Iwaizumi Hajime?”   
  
Oikawa frowned angrily at being interrupted before his eyes cleared again.

“Iwa-chan? He is the love of my life.”  
  
Kei looked at Oikawa in confusion. He looked for the joke, the lie. He wanted to know why he would make such a terrible joke out of this. He was his colleague, after all. 

But there was nothing but honesty on his boss’s face. Maybe even a small bit of affection and other weird feelings Kei didn’t want to recognize. 

“He did not appreciate my choice of career. And now he is hunting me down. Isn’t that ironic?” 

“He knows it’s you, because..”

“Yeah, we got matching tattoos on my 18th birthday. And I chose it as my symbol so he would recognize it,” he smiled and it made Kei shiver. That smile was nothing but creepy.

“And one day he will see, that I did all of that for us. For him.”

Kei swallowed. God he wanted to judge Oikawa so much, but it was basically what he was doing, wasn’t it..?

“We might be more similar than you’d like,” Oikawa grinned and got up again.   
  
“I think I heard Akaashi was coming over again, maybe I should leave you to it. We will talk about him later.”

Another person bursted into the room. Tall, with bright green eyes and gray hair. Kei wanted to groan loudly when Lev opened his mouth. He hated this man…

“Boss! You’re still here.. good. Matsukawa called, they found Tendou. He was apparently at their apartment, waiting to be questioned.” 

Oikawa’s eyes went wide.   
  
“Tell them I’m on my way. And tell Yaku I’m bringing Kei.”


	14. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heya!  
> It's getting interesting again!   
> They meet up with Tendou, what will they get out of that? 
> 
> Comments, questions, specualtions? Lemme know!

“You know this is a trap, right..?”    
  
Kei looked at his boss in concern. Only idiots would fall for this and jump head first to conclusion. He wasn’t even sure if his boss had a plan, goddammit! But he had no choice but to follow the orders given to him and if Oikawa wanted him there, than hell he would be there. 

They have been driving for a while, Kei holding his shot wound, as it was aching more with every bump on the streets. He couldn’t remember how long exactly they were driving, but Kei was sure they had already left the city by now. 

His phone stole his attention and he looked down.

**Akaashi [22:12]:** You okay? Yaku said Oikawa took you somewhere, but he wouldn't say where to… Please just tell me you’re alright?

Kei sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. Akaashi was unnaturally worried about him. He didn’t need anyone to dot on him or baby him, he had done this job for longer than he wanted to admit to anyone.   
But Kei decided to shut off every worries straight away instead and texted Akaashi back, uncharacteristically fast. 

**Tsukishima Kei [22:15]:** I’m okay. I’ll see you tomorrow

After that Kei turned off his phone, to stop any possible distractions from what was to come.   
Oikawa still hadn’t answered his question, he had rarely seen his boss this determined, Kei wasn’t sure he liked it.

Oikawa was looking thoughtful, his eyes sparkling with excitement, curiosity and something else Kei couldn’t put his finger on. It was unnerving to say the least. 

He tried distracting himself by tapping his fingers against the door, in a rhythm he was all too familiar with. Kuroo had often joked about making it their wedding song. The title however was missing from Kei’s memories. A lot of things were hazy since recently, he was losing focus and he was forgetting the smallest things. They seem unimportant in most moments, but now it was actually bothering him, that he couldn’t remember the name of the damn song! Fuck, Kuroo would be able to help him- 

“Can you stop? You keep interrupting my thoughts with your irrelevant tapping.”   
  
Oikawa’s voice was calm, but the way he was clutching the steering wheel told Kei a different story.  
The blond scuffed, but he stopped. Better not pick a fight with the man basically owning his life..

The car ride seemed to never stop, until they reached a bunch of apartment buildings that were a lot smaller than the one Kei was living in. Oikawa parked the car and got out without another word.  
Kei knew better than to ask any questions, so he got out as well and walked with Oikawa to one of the buildings. Kei couldn’t remember which one it was exactly, but it didn’t matter to him anyway.  
Oikawa apparently owned a key, as he simply pulled it out of his pocket and let the two of them inside.

Oikawa literally ran upstairs to the second floor and he opened the door quickly.

“Where is he?” He asked, Kei couldn’t see who of the apparent owners he talked to. He caught up the apartment only a little while later. But his wound wouldn't allow him to run. 

Hanamaki was standing at the door, but not with his usual lazy grin. He looked seriously offended and worried by the house intrusion.

“Good to see you’re not dead yet, Tsukki,” he said, but his voice was lacking its usual teasing and it irritated Kei. What was with everyone lately?

He nodded and stepped inside. He would usually follow the norm and apologize for intruding but he had better things in mind right now. He walked through the small apartment until he found three figures.  
In the living room, Oikawa sat, legs crossed, leaning forward, on one of the couches. Matsukawa sat on a smaller couch, frowning at their guest, gun pointed at a red haired guy who Kei recognised immediately. 

Hanamaki joined Matsukawa on the couch and Kei was bound to stand and stare at the man across from him, lazily leaning back in the arm chair, a maniacal grin on his face. He looked almost bored with the situation he was in. Eyes half lidded and a pout on his lips. 

“Tsukishima, right? Interesting to see, you’re not dead. Angel was right, you’re tougher than you look,” the red haired man spoke up, startling Kei. Tendou was his name, Kei remembered.

The blond took a deep breath and glared at the redhead.   
But too many questions were running through his head at the same time. Who was Angel? Why did they claim to know him so well? Why did Tendou know his name? What was his deal? Who was he?

“You wonder why I came here, right? It’s quite the funny story. Ushiijima doesn’t know I’m here and I’d rather keep it like that. Angel and I made a deal though, we felt like we should talk to you guys a little, but she was.. caught up in something.”

“Who is this.. Angel you keep talking about?” Matsukawa bit out, holding the gun tighter in his hand.

“She is a precious member, one of Ushijima’s right hands. You know her, or well you at least seem to be looking for her,” he smirked and watched all their faces turn to Kei.

They had known it was one of Ushijima’s guys. They had known only important members had shown up to the gang fight more than a year ago by now. But none of them had anticipated that the one Kei was looking for was their enemy’s right hand. 

“Are you here just for that?” Oikawa grumbled out, glaring at Tendou as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“Well that’s all I wanted to say. You guys can go ahead with your questions now, if you want.”

Hanamaki was the first to speak, his voice firm and his eyes narrowed.

“Who is Angel?”   
  
Tendou sighed and got up from his seat, shaking his head quickly. Matsukawa was following all his movements with his gun. 

“No, no, no. This is wrong! Wrong question. Come on, you guys are not stupid. I’m not gonna give you names or locations, I’m not suicidal.”

“And yet you’re still here,” Oikawa countered, his position never changed, he was still leaning forward, watching Tendou with high interest.His brown eyes sparkling the same way they did in the car.

“Exactly! But why? If I’m not suicidal, not a traitor and not here to make friends or allies with you,” Tendou smirked, leaning his hands on the back of the couch he was sitting on just a minute ago. He leaned forward and challenged Oikawa with a bright calculating smile.

Oikawa blinked softly, cocking his head to the side. And outside that situation, this gesture would look almost innocent.

“You’re playing a game. You get a kick out of the thrill of someone being always just one step behind you.”

Tendou sighed dramatically.  
“You were fun a few months ago! But your motives are so easy to read. You’re after Angel, and it’s getting boring, since you keep tripping in the dark. So I’m here, ask me anything. But as the right questions. I want our game back, our little rivalry. It was actually making this job fun. But no! You had to go and ruin it, falling so many steps behind!”

Kei narrowed his eyes. This man was crazy, that was all he could think of right now. He was downright fucked up in his brain. It was scaring Kei a little, not sure he was ready for that type of game. 

“How did you know we’d be coming to kill Washjio?” Kei heard himself asking. Sometimes he really wanted to curse his lack of self restrained. When he was curious about something, he developed a habit of just asking. It was quite annoying to deal with..

But it seemed to be the right thing to say, because Tendou smirked.

“Finally someone with a brain! Good, I was scared I’d have to leave without you guys asking anything.” 

He turned all his attention to Kei, gripping the couch tightly, his grin growing impossibly wide.

“You attacked two of our guys in the same week. It was simple precaution. And very bad luck on your side that you met me instead of any of the others.” 

Matsukawa frowned. “You changed all your CEOs with one of your… assassins? That seems a little excessive for a few deals.”

Tendou hummed and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, maybe, if it was anyone randomly attacking our CEOs, but you guys aren’t just anyone, are you? And the attacks certainly weren’t random or just quick idea. This was carefully planned murder. And we cannot have our competition just kill our clients, can we?”

“Why didn’t you kill, Tsukishima and Akaashi? You clearly had the chance,” Hanamaki asked, rubbing on his temples. It seemed like he had a hard time understanding this guy. But Kei was glad to see Tendou didn’t only give him discomfort.

“Easy. The short one wasn’t necessary to kill, so why would I? And I thought it’d be a shame killing Tsukishima before he knew what he wanted to know. Angel specifically requested for me to keep him alive.”

“What does Angel get out of him being alive?” 

Tendou shrugged simply, smiling.    
  
“I never asked. None of my business. She’s a crazy woman like that.”

Kei nearly snorted at hearing Tendou use the word “crazy” to describe someone else.   
The tall lanky man was Kei’s definition of crazy. The way his eyes twitched between them, the lazy yet excited smirk that seemed to be a constant accessoire on the man’s face.

“What are you guys shipping? It’s not just drugs, is it?” Oikawa asked, staring attentively at Tendou, barely blinking.

A smile graced his face, he was having fun as well Kei realized.

“Weapons, drugs, criminals who have helped us or are gonna help us, alcohol, general goods like food or small collector pieces. You name it. You want it and pay for it? We can get it. But we wouldn't touch children or something like that. We’re criminals but even we have dignity.”

Oikawa snorted, shaking his head. Dignity, huh?  
Though Kei guessed it was true, even they as criminals had a line they’d never cross. For Oikawa it had always been human trafficking, slavery and anything to do with children. He worked in the same way Ushijima did. You had money, you would get it.  
That got him more than once the request for “cheap labor” or “little helpers”, but instead of accepting that request, Oikawa had them killed or got them identified and arrested. Everyone knew Pedophiles had the worst stay in prisons. 

“What would happen if you get exposed? When someone knew you were here?” Kei asked, narrowing his eyes.

Tendou shifted his eyes up to Kei and then straightened up. He was shorter than Kei, but his red eyes and his broad shoulders were making up for that. He smirked and stepped around the couch, now standing in the middle of the small living room. He lifted his hand and pointed at Kei.

“I would get killed as a Traitor, violently and brutally. But we don’t want that, do we, Tsukishima Kei? Because if you betray me, I can have you killed even after I am a goner. And believe me I will. And your best friend wouldn't like that, would he? I’m sure he would cry his little heart out, but wouldn't show up to your funeral after knowing what you did.”

He took steps closer to Kei, eyes focused alone on him. Matsukawa got up as well, standing behind Tendou, ready to shoot if he only lays a finger on Kei. 

“He would be disgusted with you,” he smirked and Kei’s heart turned cold and heavy in his chest. The ground would open and swallow him whole and he would feel better than what he felt right now. How does he know Yamaguchi? Why? He needed to shut up! 

“And your colleagues? Disappointed, but happy they finally solved the mysteries you keep leaving behind. At least none of your family members would miss you, would they? They don’t care. You never called after all. What a disappointing son you are.”

Kei took a step back, to get away from the man. No, the demon. But that gesture only fueled Tendou’s confidence.   
  
“You apartment would stay empty and not one soul would grief because you are a monster. A murderer. Disgusting. Angel told me all about you. She studied you.”   
  
Kei was shaking at that point, turning all pale. He gripped the door frame, to keep himself steady. He hadn’t realized he backed off that far, but here he was, barely holding himself up. He was staring right at the man who know so incredibly much about him and apparently he wasn’t the only one.

Tendou came closer and leaned to his ear, whispering dangerously: “Kuroo would hate you.”

“I think it’s time for you to leave now,” Oikawa said, he had gotten up from his seat and glared at Tendou. 

“Leave.”

Tendou grinned and held his hands up in surrender.

“Of course, of course. I’ll be gone any second. I’m glad Angel isn’t here with me today, the stress of the gun pointed at someone’s head couldn’t be good for the baby.”

With those words, Tendou disappeared. Kei didn’t hear anything else, not the door, not any more words uttered.   
The only thing he knew for sure that was throwing up all over the carpet and that he finally knew everything he wanted, and for the first time since Kuroo died, he wished he didn’t. 


	15. Chapter 14

There was silence, nothing but silence. And Kei hated every single second of it. Those people never shut up, never once stayed quiet no matter how many times Kei had begged them to just fuck off and close their obnoxiously loud traps. But no luck. Never any luck.  
But now that he actually needed them to say something,  _ anything _ no matter how stupid, there was absolutely nothing. Just pity eyes and a offered mug of steaming liquid.

Kei reluctantly took the mug, staring down at it. It was black tea, he could smell that. He gripped the cup like his life depended on it. And maybe in a way it did.  
He took a sip from the cup and pulled a disgusted face at the taste.

“What the fuck is in here? Three kilo of sugar?” 

He put the cup on the little table beside the couch and he heard a annoyed huff.

“Excuse me, if your taste buds are used to the bitter shit you usually drink, that’s certainly not my fault. How about you say thank you to me for making something in the first place!”

Kei glared up at Oikawa and shook his head, but he didn’t have to say anymore, because Hanamaki butted in, rolling his eyes.

“No one asked for your diabetes shit, you know? Besides aren’t you supposed to be empathic or something? Because right now you’re definitely the worst dealing with anything. Kei hasn’t said a word until now and I’d like to know why the fuck that is.”

Kei looked up at the use of his first name and he blinked in confusion. He sure as hell hasn’t given permission for that, but he was too exhausted to correct anyone.

“I know what I need to..” Kei said dully and grabbed the couch edge tightly, his knuckles turning a bright white colour. 

“But that’s good, isn’t it? You have been looking one year for that information,” Matsukawa pointed out, tilting his head slightly to the sight.

Kei got up, ignoring the buzz in his head, or the way his vision blurred. He stumbled into the centre of the room before changing the direction, walking towards the three figures in the door frame instead. 

  
“No. No this is not good. I think I wanna go back to not knowing shit. Fuck!” He yelled and punched the wall next to the wall bruising his knuckles. “FUCK FUCK FUCK!”

The other three just silently watched as Kei finally,  _ finally  _ snapped. He didn’t react this way since Kuroo died. 

He pulled roughly on his hair. He felt the lightly healed skin on his shot wound tear open again, but he couldn’t care less. He wanted to break something, hurt someone. He wanted to destroy. He paced through the room, mumbling and yelling to himself.

“This should make me feel better. Victorious. This was supposed to be it! Godfuckingdammit! I was supposed to be free! Why her?! Why like this? Fuck! SHIT!”

Before he could punch the wall another time, Oikawa stepped in and grabbed both his wrists, pinning him to the wall with his back. He glared darkly at his subordinate.   
  
“Pull yourself together, will you?! You look pathetic. This isn’t the determined man I took in all those months ago. Where is your will to fight. Tell us what the fuck is up, so we can make sure to destroy your little problem.”

Kei struggled against his grip and he saw from the corner of his eyes how Hanamaki pulled out his phone and left the room. He was wondering what he was doing, but just because he needed a distraction from what was going on in his mind. 

“We all have a line we will never cross. Yours were clear from the moment I joined and so were mine.” Kei turned his eyes back to his boss, pulling himself together as much as he could manage.

“I cannot kill my best friend’s wife. I just can’t. So forgive me for having a little breakdown over the fact that one of the people I would trust with me godfucking life killed my fiancé.”

Oikawa frowned deeply. “Your best friend’s wife..?”   
Kei pushed him off before he could say anything else. He stepped away from the wall, running a hand through his hair.

“I cannot kill her. It would be like asking you to kill Hanamaki or Matsukawa. You wouldn't.”   
  
“If they killed someone-”   
  
“No! No you fucking wouldn't, no matter how much you think you would. I thought I would kill anyone in my way of revenge. I thought I was fucking ready to kill the entire world if that pain would just disappear with every body I put on the list! But it won’t happen!”

“I would-”   
  
Kei didn’t want to any of Oikawa’s shit.  
  
“Imagine having to kill Iwaizumi. Someone you trusted with your life, even years ago. Someone who doesn’t talk to you anymore, is hunting you instead and would probably not hesitate a second to shoot you if he had to. Would you kill him?”

Oikawa closed his mouth after a few seconds and stared at Kei. He narrowed his eyes and frowned deeply.

“That’s not the same thing.”   
  
“No, you’re right. Because she and I.. we actually still talk. But whatever. This is all bullshit. I am going home.”   


Hanamaki appeared in the doorway again. “Good, because Akaashi and his colleague are on his way here to pick you up. You’re not going home by yourself in that condition.”   
  
Kei glared at him. Why the did they care so much all of a sudden?!

“You may not like us, but this organisation is my family and like it or not, but you’re part of this fucked up mess. So I will make sure you get home safe enough. Now stop glaring at everyone and go take a fucking shower, you smell like shit.”

Taken back by that attitude, Kei simply followed the order he had gotten and limped into the small bathroom at the end of the corridor.  
To prove a point (whatever point that may be) Kei decided shower for 30 minutes, using as much hot water as he possibly could. At first it was completely out of spite, later he just lost the track of time when he felt his muscles relax under the hot water.

By the time was finished almost an hour had passed and there were clothes and a towel in the bathroom. Matsukawa’s clothes, judging by the size. Kei wasn’t sure what to feel about that, but he just decided to go with it and slip into the more comfortable and especially more clean clothes. They were still a little small on him, but better than whatever Oikawa or Hanamaki would be able to provide.

He got out, with almost wet hair and mumbled a thanks as he went to the kitchen past Matsukawa.  
The curly haired man just shrugged and shook his head. 

“Kei,” a soft voice mumbled and Kei turned around to meet Akaashi’s eyes.  
  
What was it with everyone using his first name? He never gave permission for that! Where were their manners?!   
Well, apparently Akaashi left his manners at home, because the next thing he knew were arms around his torso, gentle as to not hurt him and a soft sob. Kei awkwardly patted Akaashi’s head.

“I came as fast as I could.. Oikawa told me everything. I’m so sorry..”

Kei pulled away coldly and stepped back. “I don’t want pity. Let’s just go home..” 

“About that.. Iwaizumi is waiting in the car. He insisted to come with me..”

Kei frowned. He knew Akaashi had been in the office when Hanamaki had called him, he must have been. But Iwaizumi offered his help and not Bokuto was beyond logical to Kei. The older man had this protective side on him, even when they were fighting he wouldn't leave Akaashi alone in a time of need.

“It’s okay.. I told him to wait.”

Kei nodded softly and grabbed his shoes to put on, avoiding every bit of eye contact with the apartment owners.    
Oikawa was nowhere in sight. He was about to brush the feeling off, when he heard the sound of a gun going off.    


 

All four of them suddenly looked up, Kei was the first out of the door, running downstairs as fast as his aching body would allow him.  
If Oikawa was outside and Iwaizumi saw him.. Kei didn’t want to think about it.  
He opened the door downstairs as fast as possible, hearing the footsteps of the other three running after him.   
Reaching the fresh air outside the apartment building, he saw Iwaizumi, gun raised and brows pulled together in a deep frown.  
He followed his eyes and there stood Oikawa, unscratched and with a soft smile on his face. 

“Nice to see you again, as well Hajime.”

“What the fuck..?” Akaashi mumbled softly.

The other three seemed to know what was happening right in front of them. 

“Nice to see me- What the fuck Oikawa?! Surrender now or I'll shoot you.”

The smile on his boss’s face, never changed. It stayed soft and gentle, almost melancholic.   
He turned to the four intruders, tilting his head.

“Why so tense? Where you worried about me? That’s so sweet of you,” he said but his tone didn’t match his expression at all. He sounded cold, calculating, like he was trying to figure out who of them he could use next for his ultimate goal. What goal was unclear to all of them, but Oikawa himself.

Iwaizumi followed Oikawa’s glance and he narrowed his eyes. “Akaashi, Tsukishima! Get away from there, he’s a dangerous man.”   
  
The two of them didn’t budge, Kei stared straight ahead, as if he was somewhere else completely and Akaashi had his arm on him as further support.

“You say it like it’s a bad thing. I remember a time where you found it just as exciting as me.”

“Shut the fuck up and don’t talk like you know me. Hands behind your back and on your knees. You’re arrested for several murders.”

Oikawa laughed and wiped his eyes. He looked genuinely amused. “Under what evidence? I didn’t kill anyone.”

“Your symbol was everywhere on every crime scene.” 

Oikawa turned to Kei and then back to Iwaizumi. “That’s not a lot of evidence, but I’ll take it I guess. Arrest me. Tell them why you know it and I will confess everything.” He smiled and got down to his knees. 

“I killed all the CEO’s. I am the leader of one of the biggest drug rings, I do blackmailing, corrupted two police officers and committed numerous other crimes, that would be too much to put down now. I will confess. If that’s what you want me to do.”

Kei stepped forward and looked at Oikawa and then at Iwaizumi lowering his gun. He frowned at the kneeling man. Just what the fuck was Oikawa thinking?! He had people to look after! 

“What do you mean, corrupted two police officers?”

Oikawa chuckled softly and shook his head. He nodded at Akaashi and Kei.

“Why do you think they’re where I am? Coincidence? Hardly. You have tried to find me for years after all. Why didn’t they step up and arrest me? Why are they standing with.. what do you call them? The Servants?” 

Iwaizumi’s frown deepened and he looked at his colleagues and the men with them. Sure enough Hanamaki and Matsukawa looked like The Servants from all the security cams they have looked at. Appearing before a murder and managing to never be found again until the next murder was bound to happen.  


Kei and Akaashi didn’t look threatened or in danger at all, they look more like they know the other two. Kei was staring at the floor, avoiding Iwaizumi’s eyes at all costs. 

“What the fuck..” the man muttered as he lowered his gun completely, putting it back into its place at his belt.

“Akaashi, Tsukishima, into the car. Now,” he growled at them, a tone they knew better than to disobey. 

Kei limped to the car with the help of Akaashi. “It’s okay, huh?” Kei grumbled angrily at Akaashi when he was maneuvered into a seat.

Akaashi mumbled something that resembled an apology but Kei didn’t want to hear it right now. He just wanted to wake up from the nightmare that his life turned into. He rolled down the window to be able to hear the conversation outside.

“So. Now arrest me? End this seemingly endless game of cat and mouse,” Oikawa hummed in a bitter sweet voice, stepping forward towards Iwaizumi.

The man didn’t even reach for his gun again, just letting it happen, watching Oikawa step closer. Kei held his breath, scared of what was gonna happen next. He couldn’t let Oikawa kill Iwaizumi, but neither could he let his boss die or get arrested..

Oikawa reached to Iwaizumi’s belt and took off the handcuffs from there.

“Arrest me,” he demanded, “end this, once and for all. Take me out of your life. So you can live in the peace you’ve always wanted. Be the good cop. Or admit you love the feeling of adrenaline that comes with the danger of life. Admit you love chasing me down, over and over again, always being reminded of what we have done together.”

Oikawa handed Iwaizumi the handcuffs, holding out his wrists. But the shorter man didn’t put them on him. Instead he tugged them back onto his belt.  
Oikawa smirked and leaned forward, whispering something into his ear, but Kei couldn’t for the love of god hear a single word.   
The next thing he knew was Iwaizumi pushing Oikawa away. “I will find the evidence. And then I’ll take you down properly. Not because my two colleagues are fucking stupid. Now go, before I change my mind.”

Oikawa grinned and motioned to Hanamaki and Matsukawa to go back upstairs with him.  
They disappeared in the building and Iwaizumi got into the car, fastening his seatbelt with an aggression that impressed Kei and started the car. All in silence.  
A hand found Kei’s on the seat and he didn’t fight it, squeezing it gently.

 

They sat in an uncomfortable silence for a long time, before Iwaizumi drove over to the side of the street to turn around to them.

“WHAT THE FUCK WERE YOU THINKING?!” He yelled, narrowing his eyes at the two.

“You work with Oikawa? The man I have been chasing for years and the one you have been chasing for what.. 11 months or even more? I cannot fucking believe you! How stupid does one person have to be?”

“Says the man who dated the supposing serial killer and failed to mention that to our boss,” Kei contered, glaring back.

Iwaizumi shook his head, biting his lip. “That’s not the same. Yeah, I fucked up and made a mistake by not telling the Chief, or by not arresting him today. But fuck, at least I’m not  _ working _ with a serial killer! You’re doing illegal shit. I will get a warning or a short term suspension, but holy shit you guys are going to prison!”

Kei sighed and leaned back in the seat. He closed his eyes and used his free hand to hold his wound. Deep breaths..

“He didn’t kill anyone, you know?”   
  
That earned him a dry and empty laugh from the man in the front.

“You trust him on that? It’s his symbol, his mark. He has always been leaving it behind on everything important to him, or something he was proud of. I know you saw my Tattoo, so you know what that means.”

Kei stayed quiet and turned to look down to his hand laying in Akaashi’s.

“Keiji didn’t do anything wrong. He was not part of this. He was only there because I needed him to be. So if you promise not to say a word about his involvement, I will go to the police and hand myself over.”

Iwaizumi perked up, eyes widening. “What.. what are you saying?”   
  
“Oikawa didn’t kill anyone. And I know that, because I did.”

When there was no answer from Iwaizumi and Akaashi squeezed his hand in a calming way, Kei started to explain himself.

The man in the front listened intensively, starting the car again, when Kei approached the end of his story. 

“I will admit everything, if you let me go home, heal and talk to my best friend once more. I need him to hear it from me. Please..”

Iwaizumi stayed silent, no answer or noise of recognition or agreement, just a heavy silence.   
Kei could only turn and look out of the window. He tried at least.. He had done what he could. Maybe prison was the best option for him now anyway.  
They soon enough reached Kei’s street and the blonde perked up frowned. “Wha-”

“You have one week. One week and I want you to admit everything you have done. If you don’t I will come look for you and arrest you myself, got it?” 

Kei nodded softly and let go of Akaashi’s hand to exit the car. But Akaashi followed his lead and got out with him. “Thank you, Iwaizumi.”

The man didn’t say anything, only shrugged his shoulders and drove off again.    
One week.. 

Kei had one week to decide what to do about Yachi..

 

At home, to his surprise, Bokuto was waiting. He lit up a little when he saw Akaashi and Kei, but his eyes stayed dull for the most part. It wasn’t a pleasant sight for Kei at all. And judging by the way Akaashi stiffened next to him, it wasn’t nice for him either. Kei excused himself into his apartment and climbed straight into his bed. He didn’t want to be part of the lover’s quarrel.  
He didn’t hear them argue and the tension was mostly gone when he woke up the next morning. Though they weren’t as lovely as they used to be. Kei understood that sometimes, recovering from fights took time.

Though much to his annoyance, they basically moved into his apartment over the cause of the week. They spend as much time as possible with him. No matter what he did, one of them always joined him. It could be more annoying though, Kei thought himself. At the end of the week, he wouldn't be free anymore anyway.  
So the blonde decided to enjoy the week as much as he could without leaving his house. he went through all the photos he had. He actually called his mother and brother to apologise for the radio silence they had to go through with him.  
He took down the wall of evidence he had collected over months about Kuroo’s death and he never once took of the ring necklace from around his neck.

He had spend most his week actually taking care of himself and let himself grieve, like he should have done a year ago…  
It was nice not being alone with his anger and his sadness as well, knowing he could rely on his friends for that.

Therefor it felt almost mean when he sneaked out early that morning, with only a message saying he’d be at Yamaguchi’s house. The message was more to let Akaashi know it would be over today than say where he went.  
He wasn’t good with goodbyes, so he tried to avoid them. 

 

It was 5:30am when Kei reached Yamaguchi’s and Yachi’s apartment.    
His best friend had taken on night shifts, since they paid more. Kei couldn’t blame him. But it made things easier for him.

He knocked on the door, gun firmly in his hand and Yachi opened the door, with a frown on her round, pretty face.

“Kei, what are you doing here so early in the morning?” She asked, but her eyes quickly fell on the blonde’s gun. 

“Oh,” she breathed out in disappointment and stepped to the side, letting him inside.

“No need to make a mess and wake the neighbors,” she reasoned. 

She went to the kitchen, just to pull out a large knife. “Cannot be unarmed, how terrible would that be?” 

Kei looked at her, gun tightly in his hand. “You killed Kuroo.”

Yachi sighed, rubbing her forehead with her free hand. “Yeah, I did. Did you just come here to get confirmation? Because I was so sure Tendou already gave that to you.”

“I’m not here for confirmation, I wanna know why. Why did you kill him? Why him?! I thought we were friends?”

Yachi went over the couch to sit down. She lifted her feet off the ground and onto the coffee table. “Swollen feet, very common in my family during pregnancies. You don’t mind do you?”

Kei kept her eyes trained on her, narrowing them to a glare.   
  
“He was in the way of my job. He saw things he shouldn’t have put his nose into. He wanted to be a teacher, not a detective. He was at the wrong place, at the wrong time, I was bored and my boss gave the order to get rid of all the witnesses.”

She talked so casual about her job, that it made Kei shiver in discomfort. He took a few steps back, holding his gun up to her. If he pulled the trigger now, he would instantly kill her with a shot in the head. But he couldn’t pull the trigger.. he just fucking couldn’t.

“I would do it again. I don’t regret it, if that’s what you need to hear from me.” Her big brown eyes looked up at Kei with innocence but confidence, making the taller male take another step back, until his back hit the wall. This was just like with Tendou. They both had this strange crazy aura.    
Energy that pulled you in but scared you to the point where all you wanted to do was surrender.

How could this kind, beautiful woman, the wife of his best friend, be such a monster at the same time? 

“Whatever it is you came here for, I hope you do it quickly. Tadashi is on his way home and I would rather he doesn’t find you here, with a gun pointing at my head. So either kill me, or leave.”

From between the cushions, she pulled out a gun as well, holding it and loading it quickly.

Kei held his gun with two hands, trying to control his shaking. He wanted to shoot, get his revenge and be over with it. But his eyes wander all over the place. The happy memories this woman made with Yamaguchi. The memories Kei himself shared with her.    
The baby that she was carrying inside of her. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t kill her, no matter how much his body was aching to do it. 

He lowered his gun and let it drop to the floor.   
Kei looked at her, immediately regretting it. Her usually bright eyes were hardened and cold. She was waiting for him to make the next move now that he was unarmed. 

She pulled the hammer back, holding the gun with two hands.

“It’s been so long since I last killed someone. And I miss it. The adrenaline, the power you feel. It’s better than any rollercoaster or even bungy jumping. You just feel so free! Don’t you agree Kei? You miss it, too, don’t you?”

Kei just lowered his head, taking in a few deep breaths, before he could face her again. He picked up his own gun and held it against his head. He couldn’t kill her. He didn’t want to live in prison where people like her knew exactly how he felt when he held the gun in his own hand. He didn’t want to be like her. He wanted to go back to how things were. He wanted his hands washed clean. He almost missed his innocence more than the power of killing someone. And the  _ almost _ was what did it for him. He knew he had to die. One way or another.

“Take good care of Tadashi and mini Tadashi, yeah?” He whispered softly.

“NO!” She yelled.

But even before he could pull the trigger his world went dark.    
His limbs got heavier and heavier with every passing millisecond. He knew for sure that his body had hit the floor by now, but he couldn’t feel anything, hear anything. It was over.   
There was no turning back, no saying goodbye. Just splatter of blood on the wall behind him and the dying wish for forgiveness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SO. This is it.  
> The ending of the story. There will be an epilog, which is already halfway done, so I hope it won't take that long this time to upload it.  
> I rewrote the entire chapter at least 3 times, and by now I can say I am not 100% satisfied with it, but it's as close I will get I think. I am as happy as I could be with how this turned out, considering I didn't follow my outlines since chapter 3 xD  
> Anyway, I really hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing this. I know it felt rushed, but it was supposed to. I wanted you to feel as rushed as Kei did.  
> Anyway, comments, questions or anything really are welcome! I look forward to your reactions.


	16. Epilogue

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, okay. This is gonna be the end, the last chapter.  
> This is the epilogue and I hope you guys will enjoy it, I feel like that's a good end for the whole thing.
> 
> Thank you all so much for joining me on this weird ass adventure. This was the very first story I wrote that is actually finished and this long, so again, thank you for encouraging me to continue.
> 
> If any questions are open or anything, my tumblr is: justmoonythings  
> you can ask any question there or in the commments.   
> If you have any suggestions for oneshots based on this story, let me know, I will write at least two for this anyway! 
> 
> Anyway, enough said, here is the epilogue. Have fun.

“Tsukishima Kei was a lot of things. A hero isn’t one of them. He was a police officer at heart and a man in love who took the wrong paths a few times too often.   
He was a murderer and a traitor, working with the wrong organisations to reach his own ultimate goal. He was arrogant and quiet, never letting anyone in, never letting anyone else close. People loved him unconditionally for his personality, no matter how stoic or cold he seemed to appear. It was.. just so Kei. He swore revenge to everyone involved in his fiancé’s death knowing full well Kuroo would have been against it. He never dropped his personality for anyone. He changed, throughout all the years I have known him he had changed a lot, but he has never let anyone take the fundamental character he had build.   
I admired him a lot. I still do. He was.. so strong and yet so weak at the same time. I always thought he was one of those supermen, but looking at his mistakes.. he was just like us. Human just like us.”

There was a small pause of deep breaths. He adjusted his hold on the little sleeping bundle in his arms. 

“He was ambitious in his attempts to live, he lived when he didn’t want to. And he let live when he had no other choice, but to give up.   
He.. He didn’t take his revenge when he could have and I think that shows the good person he was at heart. I will tell my son about my best friend and I will tell him about his mother, both tragically removed from his life before it had even begun. I want to thank everyone here for coming and for celebrating Kei’s life with me. And for mourning the loss of a friend, a colleague, a police officer, uncle and loved one.”

Yamaguchi stepped down from the podium, rocking his son back and forth. He was surprised he managed to sleep through his entire speech. He smiled down to the little human before looking up into the small round of people who came. 

Bokuto, holding Akaashi tightly in his arm. Yamaguchi had seen the ring that decorated Akaashi’s finger now. He was happy for them. He really was.. Next to them was Iwaizumi, expressionless face as always, eyes focused on the picture they had put up. Chief Daichi had come as well. And that was pretty much it. Though Yamaguchi had spotted a few other figures in the shadows in the back, but he couldn’t see them anymore. He had a vague idea who they could be and Yamaguchi was grateful, though angry too. They should be ashamed. But.. maybe he had no right to judge. 

Akaashi approached Yamaguchi with tears in his eyes, but a small smile on his face.   
Yamaguchi immediately offered him a hug which the shorter one gladly took. He was mindful of his child though. 

“Thank you so much for your words. I don’t think I could have done that..”

Yamaguchi waved him off. “Don’t thank me. I figured honesty is what he would have wanted.” 

Akaashi nodded, soon joined by his fiancé. “How is your little one doing? Did he get out well?”

The man grinned down at the baby in his arms again, seeing his beautiful sleeping face. 

“He still has a long way to go. And will probably have some issues growing up, since he was born way too early. But he is strong and he pulled through the worst already.” Yamaguchi smiled. 

“Did you decide a name already?” Akaashi asked and Yamaguchi nodded.   
He and Yachi had talked a lot about names. But since she was killed in the aftermath of Kei’s murder, he was all by himself. He internally thanked and hated Akaashi still for shooting her. 

“Yeah.” He removed a little bit of the cover of the baby’s head so the two men could see him properly. 

“Meet Yamaguchi Kei-Tetsurou.” 


End file.
